All Blue And Green
by notthetype
Summary: Sequel to Half and Half. Christine Chapel is quiet, shy, and has a hard time standing up for herself. How will she fare when confronted with some rather colorful characters? Full cast and OCs: Shrem and Aureya
1. Intro: Still Go

**A/N: Right, here it is… ahm, don't know what to say, really, it's all shiny and new, and I'm not sure how it will go down. It's only a short intro, the chapters will be much longer, even though not quite as long as those in **_**H&H.**_

_**A few important notes on timelines:**_

**This story is AU to the movie, which makes it AU AU to the original series. It is set after the events of **_**Half and Half**_**, you don't need to read it, but it will give you a better idea of some of the characters.**

**In the movie, Nurse Chapel was on the Enterprise during their 'rescue mission' of Vulcan. In the original series she didn't join Starfleet until much later… in order to find her missing fiancé Robert Korby. So, I've taken the middle ground here, and have her join just after the Narada incident… or rather, because of the Narada incident.**

**I included a Cadet Chapel in one of the knitting circle scenes in **_**Half and Half**_**; please ignore that.**

"…. and how can you do this to your poor mother?" Christine briefly interrupted her in-depth study of the tablecloth to look at the hysterically sobbing woman in question. She knew these kinds of emotional displays; they were masterfully crafted performances, based on perhaps 10% actual feeling. She marginally hated her for this.

As Lauren Chapel continued to perform admirably, only glancing at her daughter occasionally to insure the success of her display, Patterson Chapel continued his tirade:  
"Not to mention the implications for your career! Now if you'd chosen to go into this as a scientist, I'd perhaps understand… but active duty… as a _nurse_?" He said the last word as if it were something unspeakably dirty.

Oh, the shame of it all. How could she aspire to such a thing after they'd groomed her to not be a disappointment like her brother? They had allowed her to pursue an academic career, even if spending your days in front of microscopes and Petri dishes was not exactly their idea of a distinguished life choice; it had provided them with a nice little fact to gloat about. "Have you met my daughter, Christine, she is a brilliant scientist. Only recently she received a grant for…" The eternal need to demonstrate, to perform for an ever-present audience of overly critical peers, had always made her feel more like their trained poodle than their child.

"You have a PhD, for crying out loud… what were you thinking. …and to only tell us after completing all the paperwork, not even giving us a chance to…" His voice was now shaking with anger.

"What will people say?" Her mother choked out, waving her hand around in that overly dramatic way she was so fond of, her perfectly manicured nails and two diamond rings catching the light from the antique chandelier and making Christine squint.

_Ah, finally, the core of the matter. None of this was about her, it wasn't even about William… as always, this was just about them._

She longed to scream, just scream… form no words and simply shriek. She knew she would never have been able to convince them, knew she simply was not strong enough to face them head on, so she had taken the coward's way out and had presented them with a decision already made. She would be joining the Starfleet Academy as a first year student in the autumn, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"You've always been such a good girl. Why are you doing this to us?" Her mother's voice had taken on that small girl quality she thought made her sound more pathetic,… she was right, just not in the way she wanted be.

Keeping her eyes firmly on the table, Christine managed to start with:

"I want to make a difference, the way William did, and…" That was as far as she got.

"You're brother is dead. 'Went and got himself killed, and for what?" Her soft voice was drowned out by her father's so very easily. As he stood there glaring at her, creating a moment of quiet she attempted to seize by beginning again: "I simply want to…" but once again, she could not finish, as a whole volley of theatrical wails emitted from her mother.

"Do you see? Do you see what you have done?" boomed her father.

Christine had the good sense to look chastised.

Patterson gave a small snort that indicated he had just thought of something.

"What does Robert think of all this?" There was just the smallest hint of triumph in his voice.

"He is not pleased." If it was possible, her voice had become even smaller.

She had met Robert nearly nine years ago; William had introduced them. She had been eighteen, completely inexperienced and practically blinded by his brilliance. Robert loved her, she knew, but he did not like her making decisions without consulting him, so it had come as no surprise, that he had been less than supportive when she had informed him of her decision. As with her parents, she had not trusted herself to not allow him to change her mind, so she had only told him three days ago. They had argued, 'had not spoken since.

"Robert only wants what's best for you, you should trust his judgement." Her mother's voice sounded suspiciously even, composed and perfectly melodic.

Christine nodded mutely, still staring at the tablecloth.

She could nod, she could play the contrite daughter, she could give them their way in all this, for at the end of the day, she would still go.

She had never defied her parents in anything, had never had reason to, but this was different.

She could not put into words quite how much she had loved her brother. William had been born too large, too colourful, too _everything_, to be held down by this family. He had taken the road that pleased him most, so unlike Christine, who had always chosen to please others. But oddly, she had never resented him for it, had admired him, had almost lived precariously through him.

William had been the only person in her family to have one quality strangely lacking in the rest of them: warmth.

When they had told her of his death, had informed her of the six ships destroyed within minutes by one giant Romulan monstrosity, she had been numb, had felt nothing but cold.

So, in the end, none of their objections mattered to her. She could sit here, cry a little, for reason's quite unfathomable to the others, and act as if she thought she'd had a mistake.

She hadn't.

And she would go.

**A/N: Reviews are massively appreciated.**


	2. Across the Hall

**A/N: OK, so I couldn't wait. I had today off, and all I did was write. Well, I just couldn't leave you with just the Intro, there isn't really enough there…. So, tadaaaaaa!**

**Since this is M from the start, Aureya's potty mouth is even worse than usual… if that's possible.**

**I have taken some liberties in the interpretation of Christine, and at the moment, not all her qualities are likeable. (And just between you and me, she IS a prude, no matter what she thinks)**

**If you haven't read Half and Half, treat this as a set up, don't worry if you don't know who people are, it will get clearer as it goes on. If you have read H&H, well, then you'll get the jokes, yay!**

**(Wow, I'm unusually chipper today, I'll better stop ranting now before I annoy myself.)**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, nothing else.**

Her father had pulled some strings, had, no doubt, used words such as 'inappropriate' and 'more comfortable', after he had discovered that she had been assigned to share a dorm room with a male first year cadet.

She was mortified when the young woman in charge of student placement had informed her that she would have her own room in the academic fellow section of staff accommodation. She would have liked to protest, would have liked to plead with the woman to let her have that tiny half of a room she was originally intended to have; but she looked so pleased to be giving her the good news, Christine had simply blushed bright red with anger, had thanked her, grabbed the PDA with directions, and had stalked off, clasping her bag so tightly, she thought she might fuse the fabric straps to the skin of her palm.

Now, sitting at her small desk, futilely attempting to focus on that paper on Talaxian anatomy they had been assigned, she had to smile at the mental image of her father finding out about the girl across the hall from her.

The reason she couldn't focus on her paper, hadn't been able to focus on the novel she had tried to read last night, had had to abandon the thought of calling Robert for fear of the background acoustics, was the steady moaning and grunting coming from the quarters right opposite her own.

To be fair, it was not constant; it simply seemed to coincide with any activity on her part that might require some peace and quiet. She had unintentionally made a study of the noises, confident that, were she to keep a log of them, some odd mathematical pattern would emerge.

_Day three: While the female moaner appears to be always the same, the young Orion resident of the quarters in question, there are two very distinctly different male grunters/moaners/screamers… well, only one of them is a screamer._

_Day seven: To my great surprise and consternation, I have discovered that occasionally all three voices can be detected, emitting their odd mating calls… __**simultaneously.**_

She did not consider herself a prude,… but then again, perhaps nobody considered themselves that, regardless of actual fact; she understood that a person's sexual affairs were nobody else's business, but the idea of … well…

She tried to focus very hard on the fact that all her father's attempts to avoid placing her in what he would consider to be inappropriate surroundings, had backfired so spectacularly, had the metaphor been literal, someone would have had to scrape him off the wall by now. She took great pleasure from this fact… now, if only the three of them would shut up for five minutes so she could concentrate.

She had met her neighbour only once in the two weeks she had been living across the hall from her. She'd been horribly late for a lecture, due to the fact that Robert had insisted on fixing on a time for his first visit and had not been amenable to any of her suggestions. She had opened the door at the very same moment as the one just across swung wide.

"Well, hi there, I'm Gaila, you must be Christine… judging from the sign on your door."

The young woman had smiled brightly, and then had actually had the gall to add: "You're terribly quiet, honey, I haven't heard a peep out of you since you moved in." At this, she had extended her hand in greeting, and Christine had taken it with a small smile but no comment. She finally managed to mumble:

"I'm sorry, I'm late for class." And had escaped before the other woman could get another word out.

---

She'd also run into her two…boyfriends?...; one at a time.

She had returned from the library a little later than usual, and as she'd entered the turbo lift, pressed the button and watched the doors slide closed, a hand had slid into the tiny remaining gap and the doors had opened wide again.

"Whoa, not so fast there, little lady." The young man who had followed the hand was a good two or three centimetres shorter than her, so she could not help but smile at his remark. He had appeared to take that as encouragement, however, and had grinned a little too smugly for her liking.

"Shouldn't you be in student quarters right about now? Or are you intent on some extra curricular…" She knew her face had turned bright red and her eyes had gone wide; Will had always told her she looked like a grasshopper on speed when she was shocked. The young man had obviously noticed, and aborted his crude joke in time:

"Hey, hey… I was only joking. Sheesh, no need to look like you're about to keel over…. I've heard about you, you're Christine, right? You live across from Gaila; I'm her friend Jim."

_Friend? Is that what they call that now? And how in the name of everything holy had he heard about her? How was she anything but 'quiet honey' to the girl in the room opposite hers?_

"Hi." She'd managed, turning red once more. They'd walked from the turbo lift in complete silence and she had merely given him a quick nod before disappearing into her room. She'd heard him snort as she'd closed the door.

---

The encounter with Boyfriend Number Two had been much shorter, and much more embarrassing. She'd opened her door, seen a giant blue man, who'd immediately smiled and ventured a tentative "Hi." She'd shrieked like a banshee, had turned on her heel and disappeared back into her room, slamming the door for good measure. She came to her senses almost immediately, feeling like the biggest fool on the face of this planet and the next five over. She'd met Andorians before, she had even been to a gala at the Andorian Embassy once; they hadn't been quite so large, but still. What on Earth was wrong with her? She had contemplated opening the door and apologising, but a soft and surprisingly high-pitched laugh, moving down the corridor and away from her quarters, had destroyed what little resolve she'd had in the first place.

_Great! I'm starting to get why that Gaila girl is talking about me. I'm not 'quiet honey', I'm 'moron girl'._

---

She'd had a second almost encounter with BF2, or rather an odd encounter, which vaguely involved BF2, even though he wasn't really present.

She had just settled into bed, tea on her side table, book in hand, when the sound of rather loud knocking came from across the hall, followed by an equally loud voice announcing:

"Shrem P'Grell, get your naked blue ass out here this minute! You've promised me a reconfigured coil plug yesterday morning, and by Newton's false teeth, if you don't give me the damn thing right now, I'll come in there and drag you out by your giant dick!... Also, you left all that stuff you used for making cookies lying around in the kitchen, I'm not washing that again, do you hear me?"

Christine had mustered the courage to slip on her robe and open her door just the tiniest crack. She'd obviously not been quiet enough, because the short young woman outside the other door had whirled around to face her. This time it hadn't been her who'd blushed:

"Oh, I'm so sorry, did I wake you? Crap, I can be such an idiot sometimes. Ahm… well, I'll better go then." She'd been the most unusual shade of pale green, her hair one mass of dark brown curls, her eyes the colour of honey… Christine was not sure she could determine the woman's race… definitely part Orion, though.

She seemed to have stumbled into some odd sexual mass exchange. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what sort of position a 'reconfigured coil plug' was, but it sounded horribly graphic, and rather painful.

The pale green woman had given one last apologetic smile, making the small scar on the side of her mouth stand out more clearly. Then, taking Christine by complete surprise, she'd given the door one more loud thump and had shouted:

"P'Grell, you just got your ass saved by Gaila neighbour, you better give me that bloody plug tomorrow, or else." Christine had winced; both at the added adjective, and at being mentioned in this kind of conversation in the first place.

The woman had thrown her a quick cheery shake of the head, accompanied by a wicked little grin, and had dashed off in the direction of the turbo lift.

Christine had heard the lock on the opposite door beep, had panicked, and closed her own. Through it, she had heard a male voice, obviously shouting after the woman:

"Tomorrow, Eya, I promise…"

"You'd better." Had come the much quieter reply from further down the corridor.

_Dear Lord, the entire place is blue and green, promiscuous, and raving mad._

***

Christine had two things that kept her mind centred, two places that seemed to be untouched by the lunatics across the hall. She'd always been a bit of a nerd, so it was perhaps not so odd, that both those places were classes.

She was obliged to take Introductory Mathematics and Logic as part of basic science training; she'd had to smile at this, given the fact that she had had to handle complex equations in her previous work for years. But to her great surprise, she found the class infinitely soothing. The nice lull of the heavily accented voice of the young Russian Ensign who taught the class, was almost like a mild muscle relaxant for her brain. She found the order and linearity of maths could create a wonderful counterpart to how chaotic things could be here. She had always aspired to be more like her brother, to be good with people, to make friends easily, but when it boiled down to it, she was good with science, good with numbers, and that was that.

---

If Intro M&L was a muscle relaxant for the brain, then Advanced Vulcan Grammar, was caffeine for the heart. She'd been studying Vulcan for years, her field of research in Biochemistry being influenced so very heavily by Vulcan scientists. So, she had successfully tested into an advanced language class, and had chosen AVG for it's rigidity and observance of strict rules, something she felt her life could use a little more of at the moment.

It was, however, not the course material itself that excited her – even though she found it challenging – it was the class's instructor.

Oh, she was well aware of the fact that a silly little crush didn't fix her problems with the crazies across the hall; that she shouldn't even be crushing in the first place; she was engaged, after all. But Commander Spock was precisely the sort of man she would have picked for herself had she been in a position to choose entirely to her hearts content. She knew she was not the most beautiful of women, too tall, too skinny, features too sharp, but Robert had at least given her that; he'd made her feel like it was alright to be the way she was. He did not even mind the fact that she was not particularly keen on sex. All in all, she was content, happy even, at times; but Commander Spock was just the perfect mixture of academic brilliance and emotional restraint that she could admire, if she added to this the fact that he was tall, dark, and handsome, then she had what she would have wanted for Christmas if God did custom builds.

Quite beside that, the class had introduced her to the first person she would tentatively hope to make her friend. Spock's teaching assistant, Lieutenant Uhura, was smart, precise, and had the kind of assertive personality that Christine would kill for. She'd even managed to speak to her twice: Once, using the obvious conversation opener of asking her when she was due, seeing as the other woman was developing a rather substantial bump, and the second, when she had run into her in the mess. For Christine, having achieved as much, all in the same week, was rather impressive.

She was just reminiscing about that second conversation, and how lucky it had been that they'd hit upon knitting as a hobby they both shared - for had that not resulted in her being invited to join Captain Taylor's knitting circle? - when she spotted Lieutenant Uhura on a park bench outside the Medical Research lab… and stopped dead.

The pregnant woman was merely one person in a rather large group of people who looked as if they were having a picnic… only the combination was all wrong. Standing to the left of the bench, all involved in an animated discussion, were Commander Spock, Uhura's partner Dr McCoy, a tallish Asian man she had never met, and _Boyfriend Jim_. The bench was even worse: Wedged right between her neighbour Gaila and the pale green woman with the horrible grasp on Standard, was Ensign Chekov, holding a tin of what looked like sweets, and laughing at something the paler woman had just said. And right there, next to Uhura, was BF2, stroking her bump and apparently singing to it.

_You have to be effin' kidding me._


	3. Sugar

**A/N: Righty ho, this story has turned into therapy, so if it ends up being too light and fluffy, I apologise. (I'm sick and probably not supposed to be on my computer, but hey, it cheers me up, and boy, do I need cheering up.)**

**It is now officially a proper sequel, since I seem to be incapable of making it meaningful without the background info of Half and Half. There are just too many shared experiences, and since I'm presenting Christine with an already formed social group, I can't retell everything that happened to them. In conclusion, you'll have to have read Half and Half to understand this story.**

**Apparently some people still found the last chapter confusing, if you PM me and let me know what in particular was unclear I'll change it or explain it better.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, that's it.**

"I never thought I'd say this, but I hate Advanced Engineering." They were leaving the theatre, which in and of itself was all wrong, since AE should be held in the Engine Room Simulator for almost all of their final year classes.

"Where did they even find that guy, under a rock?'

"Shrem, that's racist… some larval stages in the development of species X289 actually do gestate under rocks." Aureya didn't even pretend to sound outraged, she probably just felt the need to not have him compare Commander Grogan to some poor hapless subterranean species of the far reaches of the Alpha Quadrant; it would be an insult to any larva.

"It's not racist, the guy is Terran, and I know for a fact that Terrans don't live under rocks,… and you know that too, you are one… sort of…"

Eya let out an exasperated snort:

"You have a point though, I never would have thought that an instructor could ruin my favourite class; seems I was wrong. What a wanker… Am I imagining things or did _that man_ just repeat basic plasma wiring with a class of final years? Never mind the fact that half of us have already been on active duty, on a real ship, in a real engine room.

Remind me to give Scotty an extra tight squeeze for those 'tutorials' he's giving us, I think they're keeping me sane at this stage."

"I might just join you, on the squeezing bit… I sort of like it when he turns bright red and starts cursing with way too many consonants." Shrem grinned widely and winked at his roommate.

"Trust you to make that sound vaguely dirty."

He gave her his patented high-pitched giggle of a laugh and shook his head.

"I suggest we set the course for the miniaturised Lennox Challenge straight through Grogan's office; all in agreement say: Aye."

"Aye!" Eya was a little over-enthusiastic in her reply and made a few first years walking past jump in surprise. Shrem couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Sucks about the funding and the permission… Academic Board's all wimpy after what happened last year on Vulcan… Gnall would have arm-wrestled them into letting us hold the Challenge, they wouldn't have said no to her." He could feel his shoulders sink as far as they would go; managing to mention Lennox, Gnall, and Vulcan all in the one breath hadn't been such a bright idea.

Aureya had gone quiet beside him; she was just nodding her head a little sadly.

"We'll make up for it with the miniature, you'll see; with it being all non-scheduled and borderline illegal, we could even try and rig some statues, make them do lewd things, in Lennox's honour." He felt obliged to cheer her back up again, seeing as he was the one to have sunk both their moods; fortunately it worked, and Eya gave her own little giggle:

"I bet Taylor would be on board to help with that."

"Sounds like a plan; mind you, security might get a bit suspicious if they fish a knitting needle out of matron T'Plana-Hath's butt; just in case Miriam can't help herself and has to leave some odd feminist statement."

It worked again, and Eya even snorted a little when she laughed this time.

---

Gaila was in her small kitchen, leaning against the even smaller table, running off a long list of items that constituted, as she put it, the 'bare necessities of fun'.

"And we absolutely need to have a pole, you know, for dancing… we won't fit a cage in here, so that's the next best thing." Shrem had to snort at this; shaking his head, he felt the need to curb Gaila's enthusiasm just a little:

"Pumpkin, we won't fit half of the people you've invited in here, never mind all that equipment… and I'm really not sure that it's such a good idea to go with some of your more adventurous ideas, remember, you're on the Tech Department staff now, you're a researcher, not a student, and you've invited Pike, Taylor, and Spock… can you honestly imagine any of them handling the adult themed swing too well?"

"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?" Aureya called from her spot on the tiny couch, the grin in her voice not really concealed at all, Shrem just grabbed one of the cushions on Gaila's bed and threw it at her. She disappeared out of view, cushion and all, and he could hear her laughing her ass off, presumably flat on the floor in front of the couch.

Gaila just smiled like a fool, clearly enjoying his discomfort: "You walked into that one, you know."

He gave her a garbled little grunt, and shuddered: "It's just so weird… I mean, I walked in on them three days ago, did I tell you that?… I've never had an issue with naked people, obviously, but if you've spent two years thinking of someone as the most uptight son of a…"

"Watch it!" Aureya called from where she'd retaken her seat, her expression a lot less friendly than only a moment earlier.

"All I'm saying is, I'm happy for you, I really am, and you seem to have this odd thing going on that works for you two, but tell me again why you can't have sex in his quarters?… the man lives alone, and I'm sure his place is about five times the size of ours."

"It is, and we usually are… that was a bit of a spontaneous thing… and, well…" Aureya's cheeks were starting to turn pink. Shrem always found it fascinating that a girl who was half Orion, cursed like a drunken freighter pilot, and had no problem whatsoever with dragging him from his bed butt naked and make him do the dishes, still got all flustered about her … ahm, boyfriend. He shuddered again. Referring to Commander Spock as anyone's boyfriend was just plain wrong, he should probably just stick to the official Vulcan version and call it "mate".

_No, no good either, too many graphic images… and not the pleasant kind. _

On top of that, there wasn't anything official about the relationship, just because everyone currently present knew about it, didn't mean he shouldn't still be careful about talking about it.

"Naked Vulcans aside, sweetheart, but aren't your friends supposed to organize your birthday party… not to mention the fact that you have two… ahm, what are we again, Shrem?" Jim, who'd been leaning against Gaila's desk, had now taken a seat next to Eya, lifted her legs and draped them across his lap.

"Special friends?" Shrem put as much sarcasm into the words as he could manage. Before either of the other two could respond, the antique kettle on Gaila's tiny stove sang, and he pounced on it to pour it over the tealeaves as hot as possible.

"Oh, you guys are in for a treat, trust me." He couldn't really contain his enthusiasm.

"Have I mentioned that getting this excited over specialty tea is sort of misleading… in that way of yours we've discussed, Shrem?" Jim sounded more amused than critical.

"Have I mentioned that I don't give a rat's ass, Jim? Beyond that, if the right fellow came along, I might just be persuaded; I've seen you naked plenty of times, cupped a feel here and there, too."

The pleasant shade of fuchsia on Jim's face was really quite becoming. Shrem briefly contemplated the fact that Jim would have something to say about the fact that he was familiar with the word 'fuchsia', when his search of the small kitchen cabinet came up woefully short.

"Where do you keep your unrefined red sugar?"

"My what?... there's sugar up there, the grainy white stuff in the blue jar." Gaila looked a little puzzled.

"That's the wrong kind… seriously, Froggykens, you can't have just one type of sugar." Shrem folded his arms and looked at her with a small amount of genuine concern in his eyes.

"There's more than one kind?" Gaila seemed to be entirely serious. "And more importantly, you actually care?" Jim added from the couch.

Shrem simply huffed.

"Well, if it means that much to you, you could always try silent-but-crazy across the hall. She seems all posh and hoity toity, I bet she has all sorts of weird sugar." Gaila wriggled her eyebrows mockingly.

"Hell no, I'm not going over there; last time she saw me she screamed and slammed the door in my face, I wasn't even anywhere near her,…' just about to come in here… that girl is a tad unhinged, if you ask me. I don't care what sorts of sugar she might have."

"Replicator." Eya announced from her spot.

"Oh for the love of everything bright and glitzy, honey, I've said it before…" He began, but she finished his sentence for him, with the intonation of a long-suffering wife:

"…it's not the same at all, you might as well use granulated charcoal, blah blah balh…"

"Fine, crazy silent girl it is, but if she stabs me with a kitchen knife, I'll blame you two… and to think that green used to be my favorite color." He added the last bit quietly under his breath, just loud enough for the others to hear, as he made his way out of the apartment.

---

As the door slid open just the smallest bit – security setting 151, it appeared – Shrem gave the rather startled looking face peaking through the gap his best smile and least threatening "Hi."

_Ok, so far, so good; no screaming yet._

"Can I help you?" Her voice was all mousy and soft, as if she were scared that any more breath put into it would make some part of her anatomy explode. Without realising, Shrem thought out loud and announced:

"Ha! It speaks!"

The face in the gap gave a startled twitch and he slammed his hand over his mouth, taking it away a moment later to mumble rather sheepishly:

"I'm so sorry, that was just a joke. … Ahm, so, listen, I got this really nice Andorian spiced tea in the little specialty shop just off campus, the one by Baker's Corner, and my friend Gaila doesn't have any decent red sugar,… can you imagine,… and I was just wondering…"

_Oh great, now he was ranting, and sounding positively crazy himself._

"Are you inviting me for tea, or asking me for sugar?" The door slid open but she folded her arms in front of her chest rather protectively. The small apartment that came into view behind her was almost painfully clean and organized.

"Ahm,… just the sugar?"

_Fuck! You idiot… what a horrible thing to say… backtrack, backtrack, damn it!_

"We're planning Gaila's birthday party… well, actually Gaila's planning Gaila's birthday party, the rest of us are just sitting around nodding… and I thought… Oh, hang on, birthday party… it's Friday night, you should come."

_Oh Lord, Gaila was going to kill him… but what else could he do? He'd just insulted the poor girl, and she certainly looked like she could do with a party… amongst other things._

"Friday night? No, you can't!" There was a little bit more substance to her voice now, even if only because she sounded mildly panicked.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, but you can't have a party Friday night, I'm going to have a visitor." Her voice had progressively run out of force as she'd spoken, and now she was just staring at him, her blue eyes huge and almost bugging out of her thin face, a certain mixture of fear and pleading in the expression.

"Who are you expecting? The Klingon High Command?"

She didn't even oblige him with a smile.

_Sheesh, what's wrong with that girl? Some basic manners would be nice._

"Well, I'm really sorry, but there's going to be a party whether you're entertaining the remainder of the Vulcan High Council, or whatever… Ahm, why don't you just bring your guest along?"

_Ok, now Gaila would definitely kill him._

"No." She shook her head, loosening one of the strands of her oddly blond hair, which she captured immediately and tugged back into place, her long skinny fingers shoving it into the little braided bun at the back of her head.

"My fiancé Robert is a scientist, he is not convinced about my career choice and I wanted to avoid…" She waved her hand in the direction of Gaila's apartment.

Shrem actually turned to study the door, then faced her again to frown a little.

_Wow, social skills 101… did she just insult us?_

"You wanted to avoid what?"

"Well, your alternative lifestyle choices are not exactly the sort of environment he'll find suitable for…" She at least had the good grace to break off and blush at this.

"Alternative lifestyle?… what the heck are you talking about?… all I asked for was a cup of sugar… and then I was nice enough to invite you to a party, even though all you've done is look down your long nose at all of us… you screamed just because you saw me, remember?... and I don't even think you know who you're insulting here... " Shrem just shook his head, too flustered to continue, which was quite an occurrence, he hardly ever got flustered.

"No, … I, … I don't really mind… it's just… Robert, he'll think…"

_Boy, was he ever right about 'amongst other things'._

Just to test his theory he said:

"I would have thought a lot of noise from a party was a good thing when your fiancé comes to visit you, you know… drown out the squeaky bed and the moaning." He grinned and she turned beet read and gave him a mildly disgusted sneer.

_Bingo, someone needs to get laid… and apparently 'Robert' wasn't doing it right._

She turned on her heel, still bright crimson, and he expected her to close the door in his face again, but instead, she just marched into her kitchen, opened and closed a few cupboards rather noisily, and then walked back to him. Without a word, she handed him a small cup, filled to the brim with dark red sugar granules, then she reached over and pressed the lock on her door. Just as it slid closed, Shrem noticed the small tears in the corners of her eyes and her somewhat angry expression.

_Ah, Crap._

He was left there, standing and staring at his cup of sugar like an idiot.

**A/N: If you've read some of my stuff before, then you'll know what I'm doing… so, feedback?**


	4. Snap

**A/N: OK, chapter four. I originally wanted to have the party in this but I sort of want it to be from Shrem's POV. Plus, the chapter would have been too long otherwise… what with the important introduction of Robert.**

**Reviews are shamelessly pleaded for.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters. I do own my OCs.**

Christine spent three whole days preparing for Robert's fist visit. She cleaned the already spotless apartment, bought a new outfit, then dismissed it as not elegant enough and fell back on an old favourite of his, a simple blue cotton dress reaching below the knees and sporting a high buttoned down collar. Robert liked her demure and proper. She spent some time and effort on sourcing the ingredients for his favourite stew, all the while readying her arguments, should he choose to once again try and persuade her to return to her old job as a lab assistant.

She also monitored, with ever mounting dread, the deliveries of supplies and some rather outlandish looking equipment to her next-door neighbour's door. On Friday morning a rather loud knock at her door made her jump, and as she opened it, a young man holding a large white box and a PAD informed her:

"There's no answer across the hall, could you take a delivery and sign here?"

Without so much as waiting for an answer, he shoved the white box at her, then placed the PAD on top of it, tapping it rather impatiently. In the absence of an adequate reply coming to mind, Christine jostled the surprisingly heavy box onto her kitchen table, then signed the PAD and returned it without a word. The man merely grunted in acknowledgement and left.

"_No" was the word you were looking for there, dear. _

Her brain informed her helpfully, as always, just marginally on the tardy side.

Somewhat at a loss as to what to do with the sizeable box now taking up most of her kitchen table, she decided to take a peek at its contents.

_Just in case it needs to be refrigerated, or monitored, or…._

She gave up lying to herself and lifted the lid; only to practically slam it shut a second later.

_Oh wonderful._

She desperately hoped that that Gaila woman would pick up her delivery sooner rather than later, she was in no way keen to explain the presence of a chocolate cake in the shape of a giant penis to her fiancé.

"_Surprise, darling… I baked this earlier."_

A small giggle escaped her as she pictured Robert's shocked expression.

_Oh Lord, they're getting to me._

Just to distract herself, she cleaned the apartment again, deliberately avoiding the large white box and the table it was on.

---

On the way to her final class of the day, and by extension of the week, she ran into BF2. She was about to enter the turbo lift, but took a step back as the doors revealed the large Andorian. He smiled a little sheepishly and opened his mouth as if to speak, but she merely glared icily at him, so he appeared to think better of it, and passed her in silence.

She enjoyed the virology lab, it was not one of her favourites, but she found Dr McCoy oddly amusing. The fact that she still harboured hopes of befriending his partner, Lieutenant Uhura, regardless of the company she kept, might have been partially influential in her decision to like him.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, take a look at the slides in your microscope…. If you don't croak due to a depressurised atmosphere, radiation, an accident, or enemy fire, then these little critters are likely to get you. Any ideas?"

Christine was never entirely convinced that he was joking, she simply told herself that he was for her own peace of mind.

Raising her hand she primly informed him:

"Cartalian fever, Sir."

"Indeed. Nasty, that one… Now if you'd all turn to your next slide."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave them all a rather smug little smile.

Christine was not entirely sure what she was looking at, which was a bit of a novelty for her, she excelled at virology.

"Any guesses?"

McCoy's smile was persistently gaining in smugness.

After a few moments of silence, he informed them rather proudly:

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is a genetically engineered anti-viral agent, designed to eliminate the disease Cadet Chapel has just identified so kindly for us. While it does not prevent the disease from manifesting at all, it has made it no longer lethal." He raised himself on the balls of his feet, then rocked back again and gave them a satisfied little grunt.

"Sir, there is no known cure for Cartalian fever." Christine thought her voice sounded a little petulant.

"Ah, my dear, that is where you're wrong, there was no cure. This very fine specimen of specific molecular craftsmanship has been engineered to fully approved standards in this very lab, and has been certified as safe for general use three days ago. You, ladies and gentlemen, are the first students to set eyes upon it."

A somewhat awed silence followed his words, as all cadets eagerly bent their heads to study the little marvel before them with new appreciation.

Correction, this _was_ one of her favourites_._

***

By about 1720 hours, Christine was truly beginning to panic. There was loud music already blaring from across the hall, she'd burnt the stew, rearranged her hair four times, and the giant chocolate penis was still in its box on the kitchen table.

With a loud exasperated sigh, she lifted the box, managed to open her door with her elbow and get as far as Gaila's door. Shimmying downward, while balancing the confectionary monstrosity, in order to repeat her elbow manoeuvre, she froze halfway as she heard someone clearing their throat behind her.

Commander Spock, a tray of something or other on each hand, and the small pale green woman who'd hurled insults at her neighbour's door a few weeks earlier, were eying her with mildly curious expressions.

Somewhat flustered, and unable for the life of her to get back into a more dignified stance, Christine began to stammer:

"Ahm.. this, ahm… was delivered to me while Gaila was out, I thought I'd…. ahm…"

"Let me assist you." The commander offered, as he carefully transferred the trays to the young woman, then stepped forward and took the box from Christine.

"You're helping with the set up too? That's sweet of you." The woman smiled warmly at her, as she nodded for Christine to press the lock. She obliged while still stammering:

"Ahm, no… I just… the cake." She offered meekly.

"Ah yes, the infamous cake,… it's a bit daft, isn't it… well, at least it's chocolate…. Oh, by the way, I think I've been really rude and didn't introduce myself last time we met. I'm Aureya, Aureya Newman, third year Engineering." She made the trays wobble a little to indicate that she'd shake her hand if she could, and smiled brightly.

"Christine Chapel, first year Med Support." She mumbled almost under her breath.

There still had not been an answer to the door, so Newman shrugged and held the two trays out to Christine.

"I have the code, I just usually think it's more polite to beep or knock."

_Huh, the curser extraordinaire was talking about manners; well, isn't that something?_

Newman pressed a few buttons on the panel and the door slid open, allowing the full volume of the music to hit them like a wall.

Commander Spock winced, and Newman shouted:

"Damn it Gaila, turn that down, or do you want Spock to start bleeding from his ears."

Christine was shocked at the informal address, and stared at the young woman; she, however, did not notice.

Gaila, who'd been dancing around in her kitchen, gyrating rather intently around Boyfriend Jim, when the door had opened, gave a start and lunged for the small music player behind her and turned the volume down.

"Sorry, sorry…" She threw them a big grin, then spotted the big white box and clapped her hands rather childishly, bounced up and down, and cooed:

"Ooooo, is that my cake?"

"It appears so." The Commander informed her, then turned to Newman with a peculiar quirk of the eyebrow.

"Though why it is humorous to fashion food in the shape of an anatomically incorrect phallus somewhat escapes me. Is the male sexual reproductive organ humorous in and of itself or is it a question of context?"

Newman squeezed his arm and gave him a smile that looked almost reassuring, then added in a soothing tone:

"Context, _Sir_, context."

Christine simply stared, the odd inflection of the honorary title had not escaped her, and neither had the rather visible smile on the Commander's lips.

_What on earth?... he wouldn't be included in that odd thing they've got going, would he? No,… absolutely not!... impossible… But why was he even here, and why would he allow someone to touch him so casually,… and why…_

Christine's head hurt.

Before she even had a chance to think any further, Newman held out a glass of wine to her and the door behind her slid open once more to reveal Ensign Chekov and BF2.

The first was carrying a large soup terrine, the second a stack of cake tins; he gave a little start on spotting Christine, but then just smiled sheepishly again. She was so distracted she actually began sipping the wine.

"Borscht." Chekov announced as he place the large dish on the already crowded table.

"And just in case giant chocolate dick isn't everyone's thing." BF2 added while setting down the tins, even though he seemed a little quieter than usual.

Christine was still standing and staring, absently sipping at her glass, when Gaila turned to her with a smile:

"I suppose you took in the cake? Thank you. So, you'll be joining us and bringing over that man of yours after all? That's great! Shrem's been mopey all week cause he thinks he's offended you, and well,,… it's nice for all of us to get a chance to start over, right?"

_Darn it! Robert. She'd completely forgotten about him. She had to get ready._

Instead of an answer, Christine thrust the half empty glass of wine at Gaila and mumbled:

"I'm sorry, I have to go."

She made it out the door and halfway to her own, when she heard the other woman state:  
"Holy shit, now what? What on earth did I say? … Shrem, sweetie, I'm sure it wasn't you… must just be her."

Christine was about to turn around to apologise, but the sound of Gaila's door sliding shut, drowning out the soft music and the indignant words, left her still staring at her own door and reminded her that she had to get back to finishing preparations.

_Darn it! Focus! Robert'll be here in an hour._

***

"That was… ahm, interesting…." Robert gave her a half-hearted smile as he held out the still mostly full plate to her.

"I'm sorry, I was a little preoccupied and…"

"That is quite alright, dear." He patted her hand dismissively as she took the plate from him to place it in the kitchen.

The music across the hall had not reached the alarmingly loud level of an hour ago, and Christine assumed that that had something to do with Commander Spock's presence. She still could not explain his involvement with her neighbour and her social circle. However, as a rather loud and piercingly shrill peal of laughter reached them, Robert gave a small sneer and looked at her as if to say:

"See, I told you so."

"Robert…" She began in a pleading tone, hoping to make it clear that she had no desire to discuss the matter.

"Your father is worried, dear. And I don't know how to reassure him,… on my way here I saw two people practically copulating outside the turbo lift, and…"

"Ahm, green woman, red hair… blond man?" She ventured.

"The fact that you even know that worries me. Christine, what are you doing here amongst these, these…. You are almost 28 years old, I thought we agreed that it was time to settle down, have children,… and now you've run off to play nurse on a spaceship?"

"_You_ agreed it was time…" She said it so quietly, she thought he had not heard her, but his answer, the one he always gave her when they argued about his decisions for their future, told her otherwise.

"Darling, I only want what's best for you. Now, I know it's only been a few months since Will's death, but you need to move on. This whole nonsensical idea of following in his footsteps… it's ridiculous."

Taking a deep breath, gathering all her strength and focusing on the memory of her brother's face, Christine willed strength into her voice:

"I've been trying to explain this to you, but you simply don't listen. It's not only about Will; this is important to me, I want to make a difference… only this morning we were looking at…"

"Darling, darling… enough. Fine, if it means that much to you, I'll humour your silly little whim for a bit longer, you'll come to your senses soon enough." With that he stood, grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Christine wanted to protest, wanted to show her indignation at his words, but her pressed his lips to hers and shoved his tongue into her mouth. She gave a startled little choking noise, and he pulled back with an angry frown.

"For goodness sake, Christine, would it kill you to at least pretend that you're enjoying this." He shook his head in an almost exasperated manner, then told her:

"Just undress and get into bed."

And something snapped insider her.

"No."

"Christine, we've discussed this before, I have certain needs, and while I understand that you are physically not capable of…"

"No. You'll listen to me, and you'll listen now. I am going to stay here, and I'll complete my training, and nothing you say or do will stop me. As for the sex thing… How dare you talk to me like I'm some stupid child, and then demand that I take my clothes off and spread my legs for you like I'm some sort of robot. I might not be the warmest or the most physical of women, but I have feelings, Robert." Tears of anger and frustration were streaming down her face now, and her hands were shaking with rage.

Robert eyed her with a mixture of shock and distaste on his face, then gave a small snort and turned towards the door:

"Clearly you are in no condition to judge your situation objectively, I'm sorry I've underestimated the effect that your brother's death has had on you, but I can see that you're not yourself; you are positively hysterical, and don't think for a moment that I cannot taste the alcohol on you. You know I object to you drinking. I'm sorry Christine, but under the circumstances, I have to inform your father. I don't think this environment is doing you any good." Within a few strides he was at the door, picking up his coat on the way, and exited her apartment.

Sheer indignation drove her forward as she practically ran after him.

"Don't you dare and trivialise this, Robert. And what the hell do you mean by hysterical? I am trying to tell you how I fee…."

"Christine! Language!" He turned briefly to hurl this at her, then stormed towards the turbo lift. Fortunately nobody was 'practically copulating' there at the moment. He entered the lift gave her one last disappointed frown as he pressed the button, and then disappeared behind the sliding doors and was gone.

Christine simply stood there, still shaking with rage, sobbing uncontrollably in her anger and frustration.

She heard the soft ping as the lift doors slid open again, and expected Robert to have returned; not to apologise, never to apologise, but possibly to throw in one final cutting remark before descending again.

However, the person standing inside the lift, eyes wide and mouth hanging open was none other than BF2. Christine could not prevent a soft:

"Ah, fuck!" from escaping her, at which point BF2 gave an odd little snort.

"Are you OK?" There was genuine concern in his voice as he stepped towards her and bent down a little to put his face level with hers.

Her answer came in the form of a garbled grunt and a shrug.

"Right so." Was all he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder rather timidly and led her back towards her apartment. Only he didn't steer her in the direction of her door, but in that of Gaila's instead.

"Wait, I'm all teary and snotty." She managed to choke out. He laughed softly, that oddly high pitched giggle she'd heard a few times before, then grabbed the sleeve of his dark grey pullover and began rubbing at her face. She shrank back at first, but he simply held still, smiling at her reassuringly until she leaned forward again. He finished by tugging some strands of her hair back behind her ears and noting:

"There, much better."

"That was a little inappropriate." She informed him quietly, but he simply threw his head back and laughed.

"I can be like that sometimes… inappropriate, I mean. And inconsiderate… I'm sorry about what I said to you…"

"That's alright, I _was_ being stuck up, I suppose. I'm not used to a lot of this, and I… well,… whatever makes people happy, I suppose. I'm sorry if I was rude to your two girlfriends and your boyfriend, I'm not very good with people… or complicated situations." She knew she was babbling, telling him things she wouldn't if she weren't so angry, and sad, and tired, and exhausted, and…

"You mean Gaila, and Jim, and who else?"

"The little one, Newman?"

There was that laugh again.

"Oh, Eya isn't mine… I'd have my ass handed to me on a… never mind,… she's my roommate, and one of my best friends. Well, I suppose we are all a little touchy feely and I can see how you'd misunderstand… people always think she's with Pavel,… sometimes me,… but…"

"So just Gaila and Jim, then?"

"Mostly just Gaila." There was something a little mischievous in his smile, but she couldn't help but smile back shyly.

"Tell you what, I might suck at being considerate and appropriate, but I'll tell you what I'm apparently really good at; at least I'm told I am; I'm a great friend… So, why don't we do what Gaila said and start over?... Hi, I'm Shrem P'Grell, third year Engineering." At this he grinned widely and held out his hand.

"Christine Chapel, first year Medical Support." She took his hand and shook it and he quirked an eyebrow and told her "harder, like you mean it", so she squeezed.

"Better. Now, I think you could use a drink."

"Yes, I think so too."

**A/N: Just a few notes:**

**I pointed out at the end of H&H that the five-year mission on the Enterprise won't start for a few years, and that is in accordance with canon. This story is set at the beginning of the new academic year after the battle with the Narada. In my AU, the ship is used for teaching purposes in the meantime, so most of the officers with commissions on the Enterprise are involved in teaching. Just to eliminate confusion:**

**Spock still teaches second and third year M&L and some language classes in Vulcan and Romulan.**

**Chekov took over Intro M&L at the end of H&H, and is still teaching that.**

**Uhura is a researcher for the Linguistics department, as well as Spock's student aide for his language classes.**

**McCoy, who was working in the Med Lab in H&H, now teaches practical labs to first years.**

**Gaila is a researcher and programmer for the Tech Department.**

**Jim doesn't teach, but is involved in some combat training.**

**Aureya and Shrem are still students, but Aureya is still Spock's student aide for his maths and logic classes.**

**I have not decided entirely what to do with Scotty and Sulu, as they weren't really in H&H.**

**Long note, I know, but just thought it might help.**


	5. Models and Friends

**A/N: So, I know I only posted yesterday… but, well, my reviews for this story are dwindling… which I completely understand:**

**As I've pointed out to Ac Colins, there are a lot of prerequisites to like/understand this story. 1) You have to have read Half and Half. 2) You have to be OK with the fact that this does not focus on Spock and Aureya. 3) If you're reading this as a Christine fan, you have to fulfil both of the above, and have to not be a Christine/Spock shipper.**

**Alternatively, this story could just suck.**

**Clearly, if I was writing this for reviews, this would be the biggest shot in the foot.**

**Still, reviews are the only reward we get for writing… apart form the writing itself, of course.**

**So, if you're still with me, let me hear you.**

**Anyways, I wanted to give you the party I'd sort of promised for the last chapter, and oddly enough, I was more concerned with pleasing the people who did review, rather than moping about not getting any more.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, nothing else.**

He didn't have any classes until the early afternoon on Fridays, so he decided to get a few hours in at the workshop.

Engineering had a number of large hangers used for bigger projects, and one of them was currently permanently open to the entire student body, due to a request made by Admiral Pike himself.

---

The whole miniaturised Lennox Challenge thing had really originated in a drunken conversation at the Green Wolf. First there had been ranting about how the academic board seemed to entirely dismiss this opportunity to give the demoralised students something to focus on… they'd all lost friends, teachers,… some of them had lost more.

Then there had been some rather tearful reminiscing about both Lennox and Gnall; the latter's loss still raw and new in their minds.

Then Scotty, who'd been one of Lennox's students, like any engineer in Starfleet worth his salt, had slurred:

"We should doo something,… ya ken, something big. Get evryoone in on et."

"I find that suggestion highly impractical, even if the sentiment is indubitably heartfelt." Spock had told him. "A number beyond perhaps 50 gliders, would be completely inconceivable, both in terms of material costs, spatial requirements…"

Aureya had simply put her hand in his and he'd looked thoughtful for a moment, then had said:

"Oh, I see; it was merely the sentiment you intended to convey, my apologies, Mr Scott."

"Yea, but hang on a minute, I still like the sound of it. Something big… they'd have liked that." Jim had just smiled into his glass.

"Good things come in small packages?" Eya had ventured, her hand still in Spock's, who'd given that little lip twitch of his that passed for a smile.

There'd been a few 'huh's at that, and they'd all turned to her expectantly.

"My dad builds model flyers and gliders for a hobby… he's pretty serious about it though. He's won the Canadian Nationals three times. Well, … what if we have a race of model flyers, instead of traction engine gliders… and we could have the race open to all, that way we'd have a bigger number of participants… If we do this right, it could be pretty spectacular."

They'd all sat up a little straighter.

"You do realise that permission for an undertaking of such a magnitude would never be granted."

Aureya sighed.

"We just talked about that, didn't we?"

"Yes, but I would prefer to put this point out for open discussion, at least outside my own head, I run less of a risk of being bludgeoned into submission."

Shrem still found that whole mental bond thing weird. He'd caught Aureya a number of times, sitting in their room, quiet as anything, looking either amused, or focused, or irritated, but always with an oddly vacant look in her eyes. She was having conversations with her boyfriend, while he was halfway across campus. _Weird._

What was even weirder, was that the Vulcan was looking at Eya rather fondly as he said that… well as much as Vulcans could look at anyone fondly. Apparently he didn't mind being shouted down in his own mind. He supposed that sort of made sense, though, he'd picked Aureya, after all.

"What if we don't apply for permission?" Jim had that look in his eyes, the one that was mostly boyish mischief, with a hint of something a little scary just beneath.

"My thoughts exactly." Aureya looked pleased, and shot Spock a 'I told you so' look, even though Shrem was sure that in Spock's head she was being more openly smug.

"I find the general propensity of this particular group of individuals towards activities of the illegal nature rather disturbing." Spock had quirked an eyebrow in a small show of disdain.

"That's not what you said last night." The grin on Eya's face was positively wicked, Spock snapped his head in her direction to glare in that superior and scandalised way of his, but Shrem could see that his ears had turned a good bit greener.

Bones had snorted into his whiskey, then donned his most professional expression and had told the older man:

"Take it from a man with a bit more experience in this field: Just smile, say 'yes, sweetheart', and get used to it. They always get their way in the end, you might as well stop fighting."

"My capacity for logical reasoning and the…" He'd stopped short as Aureya had leaned towards him ever so slightly, a dreamy little smile on her face and that vacant look. His ears had turned positively emerald, and he'd muttered an unusually ineloquent and un-Vulcan "fine."

"We could organise this whole thing on the sly, I can put out an untraceable invitation to all the message boards on campus, outlining rules and specifications." Gaila had that little girl excitement going on. Shrem smiled indulgently at her, feeling oddly pleased about how similar her and Jim could sometimes be.

"No, no, ve'd haf to password secure it… the board can't find out or they'll just take prewentitiw measures." Pavel was nursing an orange juice, just like Nyo, Christopher's imposing presence clearly scaring him off the booze.

"That means handing the password out personally." Jim concluded. They all looked at each other and smiled… well, apart from Spock, of course. There was nine of them, ten if you counted Miriam, who was dosing in her chair, her half drunk glass of brandy left abandoned. They'd get through the entire student body in a week, tops.

"Then what… I, mean… my brother used to go through a phase of building these things, and while I get the whole miniature thing, they're still big. You can't expect people to build them in their bedrooms, even the small self-assembly kit one end up being about two meters in diameter, right?" Noyota, always the practical one, pointed out.

"I think I can help with that." Christopher had given them a big grin.

"And nobody is concerned about the board's reaction to this, is that assumption accurate?" Shock had still looked a little peeved.

"It's a question of honour, Spock, and of remembering fallen comrades." Jim had smiled at his friend sincerely.

"Wonderful, we are Klingons now, I take it."

Spock being sarcastic always got to Shrem.

---

So, here he was, in the huge hanger, on one of the many large worktables, surrounded by students and some faculty members, all working away on the most eclectic mix of model flyers.

Some of the less technically inclined participants had gone for simple store bought self-assembly kits, clearly taking part for the sake of it, not to indulge in some ambition towards mechanics. Others went for the outlandishly creative approach, fashioning flyers in the shape of animals and foodstuffs; there was a Linguistics third year on the table next to his, who'd made her flyer look like a sandwich.

_Oh well, the more the merrier… and if it stays in the air… great._

Scotty was working on his own model, lending a hand to anyone who asked; and Shrem had once again chosen to team up with Aureya, sentiment or not, they still had a title to defend.

So did Jim and Gaila, of course, who had thrown down the gauntlet and had decided to build their own. Aureya and Shrem had given them their best mocking laugh, until it had transpired that Aureya's dad wasn't the only one to hold a national title in model racing, apparently, so did Jim. Junior title, yes, ten years ago, yes, but the thing he and Gaila were building looked like a serious contender.

Pavel, who unfortunately was the only other defending champion still alive after the events of the previous year, had opted for helping his girlfriend of three weeks, Lily, with her odd little creation… one of those things that looked like something else. She was in the Science Department and according to her, her flyer looked like some bacteria or other, which did something, and… well, he had to take her word for it.

Since Eya had M&L classes all morning, Shrem finished after about two hours, left through the code secured and always shut hanger doors, and went back to their place to make lunch so they could eat together before they both had to head for Pike's class.

***

After dropping off the two cakes at Gaila's, one was carrot and walnut, the other his grandmother A'Rill's famous bunt, he headed back towards his and Eya's quarters to change. He still managed to be one of the first to arrive when he returned, and ended up chatting to a young blond second year, who kept throwing admiring glances at Jim, who, for once, was not glued to Gaila, since he was setting up the pole and the swing.

"So, Janice,… it's Janice, right? How do you know Gaila?" He thought that was a valid question, since the young woman barely spared him a glance during their conversation.

"Oh, I don't really, ahm, I'm Lily's friend, and, ahm, well, I ended up being really early, and now I feel like I'm crashing, and…"

"I'm sure she'll be here in a bit, I can always keep you company in the meantime." He gave her his best flirtatious grin, not really interested, but a little put out by her insistence on ignoring him.

_He was good with women, damn it. Had the notched on his bedpost to prove it, so to speak. He didn't much like being dismissed, even if it was for Jim's sake._

She did seem to respond to the grin, and Shrem was a little mollified.

The unfortunate girl ended up making a pass at Jim about an hour into the party, clearly a little tipsy for courage, and Gaila waltzed up to the two, put her arms around Jim and told her:

"Oooo, pretty. I don't mind sharing if you don't."

The poor thing blushed furiously and then stormed off, clearly too embarrassed for words. She hadn't struck Shrem as the threesome kind of type anyways.

Also, he'd noticed the rather steely glint in Gaila's eyes and the almost relieved smile on Jim's lips, as the young woman made her getaway.

Oh, they did share; but they were getting ever more selective about who with.

Shrem had to smile at the whole thing, the tender affection he felt for the two making him get up, grab them both and hug them to him.

"Wa' da' he'" Jim muttered into his unusually thick pullover.

"Nothing, just… awwwww." Shrem told him, then added:

"I forgot one of the music chips at our place, I promised Miriam some instrumental Andorian blues. I'll just be a few minutes."

He made it to his quarters and back in just under 10, and ran smack bang into a Terran male on his way into the turbo lift. The man looked like he was in his late 30s, maybe early 40s, was shortish, and looked decidedly pissed off.

"Sorry." Shrem gave an apologetic smile, but the other man just looked up at him with unconcealed disdain and grunted.

_Wanker._

When he reached Gaila's floor and the lift doors slid open, he was greeted by the most unexpected and almost inconceivable sight. Silent-but-crazy was standing right outside the lift, shaking like a leaf, heavy sobs and hick-uppy breaths coming at intervals, and her hands fisted in the frumpy dress she was wearing. She looked up with something like trepidation, only to do a small double take and announce: "Ah, fuck!"

Shrem wasn't sure if he should guffaw or laugh, and the sound that came out of his mouth in the end was probably not very close to either.

She gave him an odd little look, as if to say: "Great, you're just about the last thing I need right now", and he remembered the first, last, and only conversation he'd ever had with her.

Feeling guilty and marginally panicked by her extreme distress, he took a step closer and asked cautiously, quietly, so as not to startle her again:

"Are you OK?"

She actually grunted and gave him that sarcy expression that universally translated into: 'What do _you_ think?" and a shrug.

"Right so."

This situation clearly called for some alcohol. He steered her towards Gaila's apartment, only to have her stop dead and turn to him with eyes as wide as saucers. She looked weird like that, all innocent and lost, her features soften by the expression.

"Wait, I'm all teary and snotty." The last word made him almost laugh, she'd looked like a little kid saying it, and indeed, there were tears on her cheeks and some moisture under her nose still.

_Nothing we can't handle._

He pulled down his long sleeve and had began to dab at her face, when she pulled away startled. He decided not to argue, just smiled and kept his hand up. That little girl look flitted across her face again and she leaned forward, closing her eyes and allowing him to finish his task. The expression on her face made his stomach flip.

When he was done, he pushed some strands of her hair back, tutting mentally at the unbecoming bun she'd decided to style it in.

_Such pretty hair, what a waste._

She duly informed him that she thought he'd been a little inappropriate in his behaviour, but her voice sounded more like she was surprised rather than offended; so he laughed it off.

He was suddenly overcome with genuine concern for her. She was so quiet and awkward all the time, he couldn't even imagine what that must be like. He had no idea why she was in Starfleet, why she was put up in staff accommodations, why she was so uncomfortable with almost anything that came her way. He felt sorry for her, and oddly protective too. She'd let him see the little girl in her, and somehow that meant something. She needed a friend. And he was good at that sort of thing, too.

---

She relaxed after the second slice of cake. She'd eyed it suspiciously, since he'd opted for chocolate; he thought that was the best choice for her current emotional state.

In response to her sceptically raised eyebrows he said:

"What? It's a square piece of cake. You can't honestly tell me you're not going to eat it just cause it originally came as part of a bigger package." He smirked at his own joke, but she just shrugged and tugged in.

She started talking after her third drink. They'd managed to find room on one of Gaila's tiny couches. 'Turned out the wanker in the lift was her fiancé. At the rather disgusted expression on Shrem's face, Christine got flustered and started to babble:

"No, no… he's really not that bad,… I mean he's, well… older… and we've been together for so long, and… I was only eighteen and… he is really quite brilliant."

Shrem gave her a sceptical look and simply said:

"Uh-huh, sure."

She huffed and then started to cry again, mumbling a soft:

"You wouldn't understand, it's complicated. My family has expectations…"

He snorted at that.

"I'm an engineering student in Starfleet. On Earth! I have two older brothers in the Andorian Imperial Guard… don't talk to me about family expectations."

She smiled at him for that, tears still in the corners of her eyes; all warm and sweet, in a way he didn't think she could.

"My brother was like that… Our parents wanted him to be a lawyer, then go into politics, but Will wasn't having any of it." The expression on her face was now all softness, her long features made almost beautiful by it.

"He was the navigator on the Carlton." She almost whispered the words.

Shrem had to swallow a lump in his throat.

"I'm so sorry… I was on the Enterprise." He informed her, all the while looking at his hands. He still noticed her start, and when he looked back up at her, she was staring at him.

"You,.. you.. were there?"

Shrem knew that only a third of Starfleet cadets had been assigned to ships during the 'Vulcan crisis', so it wasn't unreasonable for her to be surprised.

"Yea, we all were… well Gaila and Aureya were on the Tarmaring,… I'm sure you've read the reports… I thought you'd met Jim?"

She was still staring, a small questioning frown forming just between her eyebrows.

"Yes, I have…ahm?"

"You don't know his name." It was a statement, not a question.

"Sure I do, it's Jim."

He laughed at that. She was sipping at her glass with a vengeance, clearly a bit lost for what else to do, and he noticed that her eye's were a little lidded… she was getting drunk.

"James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise."

She dropped the glass and covered her mouth with both hands ignoring the wine now soaking into the couch cushion right next to her.

Then she shook her head and muttered:

"No, no he's not, I saw a picture and…" The realisation and recognition on her face was just too funny to watch, and Shrem gave her a little playful shove.

"Oh crap… I thought he was just this… well you know, and…" She waved her hand in the general direction of where Jim, Gaila, Aureya, Lily, and Pavel were dancing around Noyota, who took some rhythmic but measured steps from foot to foot, her big bump clearly getting in the way of her usually exuberant dancing style.

"I mean, I knew that Commander Spock, Dr McCoy, Lieutenant Uhura, and Ensign Chekov were on the…" She trailed off.

"Can I be frank with you? And will you promise me not to get offended or start crying?" He smiled at her almost encouragingly, willing the message of 'you can do that, right?' to be in there somewhere.

She folded her hands demurely in her lap and gave him a determined look, almost as if she were expecting some horrible but deserved punishment, then gave him a curt nod.

"Maybe you're not bad with people like you think you are, maybe you've just never tried to be good with them. I don't mean to be offensive, but you're posh, right?"

She threw him an odd little look, looked ready to argue or elaborate for a moment, but then simply nodded again.

"Well, so are Spock, Nyo and Pavel, well, and Bones is oddly dignified; so I think you're able to appreciate their finer qualities,… you're familiar with that sort of thing… comfortable. Now, Jim isn't posh… most definitely not posh. Gaila, Aureya, and I are just so different, we don't fall into categories… well, Eya's really mostly human, she's just a bit mouthy. I think you judge people as not to your liking if they don't fall into a pattern you already know and can deal with. Maybe you should try and learn new patterns…. Am I making any sense or am I just coming across as insulting and borderline incoherent?"

She just looked at him, a thoughtful but calm expression on her face before telling him:

"Thank you."

And somehow he got what she was thanking him for: for taking the time and explaining, for being honest, for telling her things she wouldn't have figured out for herself for a long while.

"I'm a total bitch, aren't I?"

_Whoa, where had that come from?_

"No, you're sheltered, I think. That's not the same thing."

Before she could reply to that, a loud shriek followed by a whoop came form the small cleared space, referred to for tonight only as 'the dance floor', as Miriam joined the action, doing a little shoulder wriggle.

"Oh my God, is that Captain Taylor?" The shock in Christine's voice was not even partially disguised.

"Yup, apparently Miriam has two settings, dopy and half asleep, or this…" He indicated the Academy's leading anthropologist as she twirled around Kirk.

"Ahm, how old is she?"

Shrem gave her a giggle at that.

"Miriam? 68, I think, why?

"Well, it's just…"

"We're oddly inclusive, or hadn't you noticed? Plus Spock muddies the waters a bit as it is."

She turned her attention to the Commander in question, who was standing next to Bones, both men observing the dancers and smiling.

_There he went again, being all subtle. For a genius, Spock was absolutely useless at some things, and being subtle was at the top of that list. _

"Ahm,… how so?... And is it me, or is he smiling?"

"Ahm, question number one: He'll be 54 in April. Question number two: No comment, but just so you know, it's Starfleet's worst kept secret."

_Ah crap, he was getting tipsy too._

"What?"

He ignored that, and in order to cover his tracks, simply continued:

"Christopher is 52, Jim is 29, so is Nyo, Bones is 39, Gaila's age translates into something close to 26, Aureya is 23… but apparently her aging is slowing down due to her genes, which is just as well, since… ahm, never mind… and I'm sort of 24 by Terran standards… but if we're going with that, then Spock is 34." He'd said all of that really quickly, and had, of course, managed to slip up again.

"What?"

"Which one? You've said 'what' twice.'  
"All of it!"

"I'm a little drunk."

"Me too."

"How old are you?"

"28 in four weeks."

"Ah."

Christine had turned back to observe his friends on the dance floor, then glanced at their audience again.

"He's still smiling, it's a little unnerving."

"Tell me about it… mind you, I've seen a lot worse, trust me."

The memory of what he'd glimpsed walking into their quarters a few days earlier was still a bit raw. Like he'd said to Gaila, he didn't mind naked people… and he liked rough sex… Gaila liked it too, but…

_Oh hell, she's happy. So, who cares. To each their own._

"But I thought Vulcans were all emotional control and…" She looked disappointed.

"Wo-ho-ho. If you've got your eye on the Vulcan, then two things: Outward appearances can be deceiving. And also: not going to happen… he's taken."

_Yup, he was drunk._

"He has a bond-mate on Vulcan?"

_Oh, she'd done her research._

"Nope, he has a bond-mate right here; who's, by the way, likely to take your skinny ass down if you try anything."

_Shut up, Shrem._

"I'm engaged." There was a distinct lack of conviction in her statement.

"How's that working out?"

"Shut up, Shrem."

"Good for you." He felt kind of proud of her; she'd told him off. He grinned at her like a fool and she actually smiled back.

"He's sort of handsome, I suppose." She conceded.

"You think so too?" He winked at her.

"Is that an act, or...?"

"Don't tell Jim, I sort of go both ways. I prefer women, but… well, there are four people in an Andorian marriage, and not all activities are always strictly procreational, if you know what I mean. It's best to be prepared."

She was staring again, mouth open, eyes wide, like some sort of bug. A cute bug, but still.

"You're doing it again, remember what I told you."

"Yea, but that's one hell of a pattern."

He just threw his head back and laughed.

---

She fell asleep on the couch in the end. He picked her up and carried her to her quarters, waking her briefly to get the code for the access pad. He put her into bed, taking only her shoes off; he wasn't sure if she'd take too kindly to him changing her into the nightshirt under her pillow, so he decided not to risk it.

There were dishes in the sink and on the table; they looked so out of place in the anally clean apartment, he decided she would probably get up halfway through the night, hangover or not, to take care of that.

So he washed the dishes.

Aureya would have a fit if she knew. He could just imagine her coming up with some sarcastic line like: "Sure, other girl's dishes are more interesting now that you've **not **done mine for a year and a half." He smiled to himself, finished by drying and putting away all the cutlery, then switched off the lights and let himself out of the apartment.

He returned to Gaila's, now a complete post-apocalyptic bombsight and started undressing next to the bed. Gaila gave a little snort, woke and looked at him and smiled, a moment later Jim did the same. Gaila held the covers up for him so he could crawl beneath.

"Hey sweetie." She breathed as she nuzzled closer.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and placed the other across her shoulder to rest on Jim's arm. The other man simply grunted contentedly and was already back asleep.

Shrem always found it hard to explain to people that he loved all of his friends equally. He didn't sleep with most of them, but that didn't change the fact.

He thought about Christine, and that cold little sterile cell she'd created for herself just across the hall, and the angry man he'd bumped into on his way back to Gaila's party. How strange to think that someone could survive with so little love in their life.

He drifted off, the thought still floating in his mind.

**A/N: If it pleased at all, review.**


	6. Knitting and Such

**A/N: OK, so I'm referring to The Winner's Lap in this chapter, if you haven't read it yet, do so now. (I couldn't put it into Half and Half, because it was T rated at the time… I still won't incorporate it, because I like it on its own, this way it works for both stories) Please remember that Shrem was originally conceived as a bit of comic relief… his larger than life attributes were part of that… but hey, I'm sure you don't mind.**

**Updates will slow down a little in future, since I've changed jobs… so, I'll be writing on weekends.**

**A big thank you for the reviews… and as requested, some S/A action in this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters.**

Somewhere in her dim, semi-conscious state, she became aware of a persistent thrumming, like a faintly familiar rhythm, beaten out against the inside of her head. Turning over, slowly, carefully, so she was on her back, she opened her eyes.

"Nnnnnnhm."

_Too bright,… way too bright._

Shielding her eyes with her hand, Christine managed to sit up and survey her surroundings. She was in her own bed, still wearing her dress, but her shoes were neatly placed next to her door. Crawling out of bed with a number of indignant and faintly self-pitying grunts, she made it over to her fridge, where she grabbed the first thing that qualified as cold and wet, and downed a few gulps.

_Glass,… should have used a glass…_

Closing her eyes again, she let the events of the previous night run through her mind, paying close attention as to any possible gaps. Fortunately, with the exception of how exactly she'd gotten into bet, it was all there.

_Uhhhn, Robert._

She'd have to phone him, and…

_And what? Apologise? For what?_

Before she could even begin to formulate a plan, there was a loud knock on her door. Not entirely alert enough to consider the rather sad and sorry state she was in, she managed to shuffle to her door and press the pad.

Leaning against the doorframe, red hair sticking in all directions, and eyes half closed, was her neighbour, Gaila.

"Morning… wow, you look as bad as I feel… and I'm sure that works both ways. Ahm… so listen, we're having hangover breakfast, and I thought, since you're only across the hall,… and I'm pretty sure you're hung over, ahm…" She waved at her own door rather listlessly, but then gave Christine a bright little smile. Just to drive her point home, she added:

"New start… remember?"

Torn between nausea at the idea of food, and an oddly empty feeling in the pit of her stomach, and fighting the horrible blush of embarrassment spreading across her face, Christine just mumbled a quiet "Thank you", then pointed at her bathroom and managed a further:

"Will you give me a few minutes?"

"Sure, sure… just come over when you're ready. My minions'll have breakfast done in about 10 minutes."

With that, she pushed off the frame and turned back to her own apartment.

After washing her face, brushing her teeth, and changing into slacks and a T-shirt, Christine made her way over to Gaila's, only to stop short at her door and suddenly feel horribly insecure.

_You've made a complete fool of yourself yesterday, babbling on about heaven knows what… and, and…. Ahhhhhhh!_

Taking a deep breath, she managed to wrestle her hand into beeping. The door flew open a mere moment later, and Boyfriend Jim… or rather, Captain Kirk, was standing there, grinning widely at her.

"Well, good morning, sleeping beauty,… come in, come in… coffee?"

Christine suppressed the urge to moan at the offer, and simply nodded her head, accompanied by a faint: "Yes, please."

BF2… Shrem was in the kitchen, handling a diversity of pots and pans, and gave her a cheerful wave, amidst flipping something that looked blessedly like pancakes, and stirring something that looked disturbingly like tomato soup. Gaila was curled up on the couch, and looked like she was trying to fit her entire body around the mug in her hands. She nodded at the spot next to her and gave Christine another smile. Christine obliged, and couldn't suppress the small sigh as her bum hit the cushions, and Jim handed her a cup a moment later.

"Rough night for you yesterday, huh?" Gaila looked sympathetic rather than curious.

"I wasn't very… ahm… subtle about that,… was I?" Christine managed between sips of wonderfully strong coffee. She kept her head down, focusing entirely on the hot drink in her hands, so she didn't risk blushing from embarrassment again.

"You mean the crying, or the dancing naked on the table?" Christine's head shot up just in time to catch Gaila snorting into her coffee.

"Gaila, for heaven's sake, let the poor girl's brain wake up before you start teasing her." Jim was back in the kitchen with Shrem, as they distributed food on four plates. Taking two plates each, they joined the girls on the couches, Shrem shoving Christine out of his way with his backside, to then promptly lapse into an explanation of the food he'd just shoved at her.

She had identified pancakes correctly,… that was about it.

For the lack of anything better to say, she ventured:

"You cook?" Which earned her a rather loud laugh from Gaila and Jim.

"Only type of housework I'm any good at… Oh, by the way, don't tell Eya about your dishes, she'd kill me."

There was the fuzzy recollection of her spotless kitchen and dining table from this morning, coupled with no memory of her making them that way, and a sheepish little smile spread across her lips as she mumbled a small:

"Thank you… and thanks for putting me to bed, I guess." He just smiled that huge smile of his and told her:

"You're welcome… Interesting experience, that. Usually, getting girls into bed involves more nakedness and sweating… and decidedly fewer dishes." He winked at her, and gave her one of his playful shoves, and she nearly spilled her coffee all over her lap.

"I'm glad I've broadened your horizon." It just slipped out, no stuttering, no blushing; just this once, her brain had actually been on her side. Shrem stared at her for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed, before he leaned over, put one arm around her shoulder and said:  
"Give and take, darling, give and take."

She couldn't help a proud little smile as she looked up at him.

Turned out, whatever all that stuff on her plate was called, it was delicious.

---

Sunday morning saw an odd repetition of events. While Christine's head was back to it's normal pain-free state, and she didn't feel like something had crawled down her throat and died there, there still was a sharp knock on her door only a few minutes after she'd gotten up.

"Morning, got any plans for today?" Shrem was standing just outside her door, smiling, as usual, and looking just a little pleased with himself.

"Ahm… not really?"

"Great! So, listen, you're posh, right?"

"We... we've established that…?"

"Right. So, there's this art exhibition of Rupert Marton's work on at the Museum of Modern Art, and Aureya got us a couple of tickets, and I have a spare… you know who Marton is, right?"

"…Makes giant abstract metal sculptures?"

"That's the one. So?"

"Why do I need to be posh to go?"

"You don't. I just thought… you know… art."

She just folded her arms in front of her chest and gave him her best sceptical scowl.

"Fair enough, you have a point… I was talking out of my ass there. Sill, 'you wanna go?"

"Sure."

That was the odd thing about Shrem; she wasn't really tongue tied around him anymore… just like that. Now if she got blind drunk and cried on everyone else's shoulder too, she'd be sorted.

Their little group consisted of six people: Ensign Chekov, a young woman she'd seen at Gaila's party, and who was properly introduced to her as Cadet Lily Graham, Aureya Newman, Shrem, Christine herself, and to her surprise, Commander Spock.

"Try not to stare." Shrem whispered in her ear, then winked at her. She just gave him a little elbow shove by way of a reply, which made him giggle.

As it turned out, Aureya was a bit of a fan, and provided them with a running commentary as they made their way through the exhibition. Her enthusiasm was sort of catching, and Christine found herself staring at gleaming pieces of metal, her head tilted to one side, her mouth slightly open, and thinking:

'Well, if she puts it like that, I can sort of see it. Cool.'

In her general state of flustered excitement, Aureya missed one of the steps that led from one level to another, and stumbled, only to be caught by Commander Spock, who set her back on her feet, and both of them continued as if this was an everyday occurrence, with Aureya barely pausing mid-sentence to say a quick "thank you".

The whole thing struck Christine as a little odd. Throwing Shrem a questioning look, she only got a headshake and a dismissive:

"She's such a klutz, we're all forever picking her up."

_Ok then._

They had lunch in a really nice little bistro just beside Bay Bridge, and Christine found herself discussing bacterial grows and viral development with Cadet Graham.

"I don't mean to be rude, Cadet Chapel, but I am interested to know why you have decided to join Medical Support rather than the Science Department, your background, I believe, is quite remarkable, you have been granted several scholarships for your research, have you not?" The expression on Commander Spock's face was mildly interested, but held the usual restraint of all his expressions.

"I… well, it's…"

_Great, suddenly the blind drunk idea sounded really ridiculous. Who'd ever cry on his shoulder in the first place… drunk or not?_

"Christine's brother was on the Charlton; and I'm sorry to say this, but most Science officers are commissioned with research positions, very few of them get to be where the action is. Did I get that right?"

"Well, it's not exactly like I'm looking for action… ahm, stop smiling, Shrem, that's not what I meant… I just think, I would do more good… in the immediate sense of the word… as Med Support. And yes, apart from the action bit, you got that right."

_Huh, well would you look at that. Now she'd just have to bring him along everywhere she went, and…_

"Fascinating. I find that to be an admirable sentiment."

She gave the Commander a small nod, trying her best not to blush. Leaning over and into Shrem's personal space, she whispered:

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, buttercup."

_Weirdo._

---

Her first reaction to seeing Shrem on Captain Taylor's couch, circular needles in hand, working away on something that looked suspiciously like the sleeve of a pullover, was sheer and utter relief.

_Oh thank God, now I can talk to people._

The second, was surprise mingled with amusement.

_He knits. Well, I should have guessed as much._

The third, was mild confusion and consternation.

_Oh great, my brain has turned the poor man into my verbal crutch… brilliant._

"Hey there, sunshine, come sit with me."

_Oh well._

After the initial introductions were complete, half of which were unnecessary, since she already knew Lieutenant Uhura, Aureya, Gaila, and Shrem of course, Taylor wasted no time in getting to business.

"Well, who has any juicy details?" She smiled almost gleefully, and Christine was grateful that Uhura had warned her about this.

"Better prepare some stories, nobody gets away without telling something… well, except Aureya." She'd told her, but had been unwilling to elaborate on her final point.

"Well, where to begin…" Gaila grinned evilly, while the rest of the group groaned.

"Sweetheart, there's only so much naked Shrem and Jim I can handle, and you got me to my limit last week."

"Not that any of us are unfamiliar with naked Shrem and naked Jim." Ensign Ranvelle commented, a wicked grin on her lips.

"What did I miss?" Christine raised both eyebrows at the man sitting next to her.

"Thank you, Kate. Why don't you make it sound misleading? May I just point out that just as many people have seen Pavel and Eya naked? And nobody keeps going on about that."

_What the hell?_

"We were not quite as… ahm, memorable… as you, I think." Aureya too, was grinning now.

Christine just felt confused; she tried very hard not to allow her previous prejudice to crawl back into her mind, and focused instead on the fact that she must be missing some vital piece of information.

Right on cue, Shrem turned to her and explained:  
"It sounds worse than it is. We won the Lennox challenge two years ago and had to streak across the lawn outside the mess hall… we ran right into a Ferengi delegation… it was… ahm…well, lets just say Christopher and Spock were not impressed."

"Unlike most of the female audience." Taylor quipped.

"I still don't get that joke." Christine told Shrem.

"Never mind." He looked a little bothered. As she turned back towards the other women, she caught Taylor, holding one of her larger double pointed needles between her index fingers, smiling suggestively, and wriggling her eyebrows.

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh' indeed." Aureya smiled at her.

"Honestly, do we always have to talk about my penis? Not that I don't appreciate what nature's given me, but it's a little… ah, I don't know. And I don't know what you're so amused about, Eya, 'cause from what I've seen, you're not getting a much smaller deal."

The room went oddly quiet, and Aureya turned bright pink, then attacked her half finished sock with a vengeance.

Gaila suppressed a giggle, and managed to throw Shrem a meaningful look. He in turn did seem somewhat chastised and mumbled a garbled little:

"I'm sorry, honey, I…"

Aureya let out a long breath, then smiled and said:

"It's OK,… and I'm sorry too. Now, since you flustered me, I dropped three stitches. Fix it." At this she grinned widely and held out the sock.

"I'm confused." Christine's voice sounded a little childish, even to her own ears.

"Good."

---

She found out a week later.

She still hadn't spoken to Robert, as yet undecided as to what to say to him. And he had never once contacted her first after an argument, and showed no signs of breaking with that habit.

After she'd been sworn to absolute secrecy, she'd been informed about the Lennox Challenge. She'd wanted to feel shocked or sceptical, but all she'd managed was muted excitement. William had once been on the crew of one of these gliders, back when he'd been in his final year, and the sense of connection with him and all those lost in the Narada incident, and the fact that the entire thing was intended as a show of solidarity and remembrance in general, simply couldn't bring forth any negative emotions.

The fact that she'd not once been involved in anything this… unsanctioned, gave her a devious little thrill, right in the pit of her stomach; as if deep down, she'd been waiting for something a little less than respectable.

Lily had offered her a collaborative position on her flyer, and without even thinking about it, she'd accepted.

Granted, their team was not exactly favoured to win, what with Chek… Pavel being the closest thing to an engineer they had… which was, admittedly, not very close at all.

Christine and Lily were mostly in charge of design; and while Lily had that overall quirky personality, it turned out that Christine was the more solid artist. She'd had training, of course; her parents had always regarded some knowledge of art and music as an essential part of a well-rounded education, but she had never been encouraged to give any of it serious thought. So, it came as a bit of a surprise, when her designs for their flyer, still based on Lily's original sketches, but with a much more adventurous patterns and colour scheme, were met with enthusiastic approval.

"That is so cool, Chris. How did you do that? I mean, it still looks like a cell, but… wow…" Lily seemed entirely unconcerned by the fact that her own designs had just been outshone, and with a small pang, Christine realised that she was not used to people praising her without that small familiar sting of envy.

_So, apparently I wasn't too good at picking friends before._

Not that she'd picked any of her new ones, they'd picked her… despite her general bitchiness and intolerance.

A little lost for words, and flustered by the honest compliment, she managed:

"I just thought I'd… sort of do what pops into my head." And she had, for the first time in such a long time, she had not analysed or dissected an idea until it hung limp and colourless in her mind; she'd just _done_.

"Buttercup, that's beautiful. If it flies, I think it should get some special award or something." Shrem had come up behind her, had placed both of his massive hands on her shoulders, and had studied her designs.

"You sound like you doubt that it's going to fly." She tried to sound cynical, but she just ended up half turning and smiling up at him.

"Well, no offence, but so far, all you've got is pretty pictures."

"Fair enough." She'd conceded.

She had no doubt in her mind that they weren't real contenders, not after seeing what some of the others were working on, but Lily's idea of just doing something a little different, suited her just fine.

They'd all given their flyers a few more hours, then Shrem had invited her over to his and Eya's place for some food, and having grown terribly fond of his cooking, there hadn't really been an option of saying no.

He'd remembered he'd forgotten his tool kit, almost the minute they'd entered the small, shared quarters, and he'd rushed off to get it.

And so, Christine had ended up waiting in the apartment on her own. A little lost as to what to do she'd started setting the table, and had almost dropped a plate, when she'd heard a noise from the bathroom.

_What in the name of….?_

Feeling decidedly stupid, she'd snuck towards the closed door, only to hear the same noise again… well, more than one, actually. There'd been a distinctly female moan, shortly followed by a much deeper, male growl.

_OK, now what?_

A number of possible scenarios had presented themselves, none of which should have her on the other side of the door. Plate still in hand, she'd attempted to get back to the apartment door and leave, when she heard a loud clattering sound, followed by an even louder bang, and then a small shriek and another growl.

_What if you're just thinking dirty thoughts and someone's actually hurt… or involved in some weird animal attack… in the bathroom?_

She heard a few panting noises, then something like a low howl, and then another loud crash.

_OK, that's enough… just check it out… you're a nurse… either which way, you'll have to be able to handle this… whatever this is…_

She took an uncharacteristically determined breath, made a small 'huh' sound in the back of her throat, pressed the pad… and stopped dead as the door slid open. She probably stood and stared for a good two minutes or so… not that it mattered, the two people in the bathroom really didn't seem to take any notice of her… then collected herself enough to press the pad again. She ended up staring at the closed door for a further three minutes.

Her analytical faculties seemed to resume functioning first.

_Well, no wonder I heard that clatter and the crash, they've torn the shower curtain off, and knocked over one of the small storage units. And the thump must have been when he slammed her into the wall. I counted at least three bite marks on her neck, so that'd explain the shriek and possibly the…_

Then two things happened at once: the rest of her brain kicked back into gear, and the front door slid open to emit a slightly out of breath Shrem.

"Sorry that took so long, I… What's wrong?... You've gone bug-faced again."

Before she even had a chance to answer, there was another rather loud thump behind her, this time against the bathroom door… which was presently replaced by smaller, more rhythmic thumps.

"Oh for fuck's sake, not again."

Not seeming too perturbed, Shrem marched up to the door, pounded on it a couple of times and shouted:

"Do you have to do this here… again! Christine saw… and everything…. She looks like you've scarred her for life." In answer he got a rather loud growl, followed by Aureya's out of breath voice:

"Sorry… ah… it wasn't… mmmmm, …plan…." That was as far as she got, before there was another louder thump, and a moan.

"Ice cream… I feel like ice cream, how about you? My treat." Shrem simply grabbed her hand and dragged her from his quarters. She only realised that her mouth was hanging open, and presumably had been since she'd entered the bathroom, when they exited the turbo lift. Shrem was still dragging her when they reached the mess, at which point she dug her heels in and made him stop.

Pointing over her shoulder, then giving a garbled grunt, and finally just shaking her head and letting her shoulders slump, appeared to be the entire extent to which her eloquence would oblige her.

"Yea, well… sorry you had to see that. So Spock and Aureya are sort of what I meant when I was talking about Starfleet's worst kept secret… obviously. You won't tell, will you? I mean, most people know, and it's not like it's a big deal, she's not his student anymore, but she is his aide, and… it's a little complicated."

Still struggling with her higher mental functions, Christine simply blurted out the first thing that popped into her head:

"But he's Vulcan and she's Orion."

"Half… and half… actually. They are both half human."

"I… I never would have… I didn't think he… with his students…" She couldn't help the odd undertone of moral outrage in her voice, she thought that was odd, since she'd considered Commander Spock so very appealing, but perhaps the thought and reality were not quite the same thing.

"Oh, now that's not fair. He's not the type to… you know. They are properly bonded and everything… she's a little more than his fiancé,… they have to wait for some weird Vulcan thingy to happen and… You should have seen him when he thought she was dead, and,…" Shrem trailed off, his face so full of honest concern that Christine felt a small stab of guilt.

"I did it again, didn't I? I was thinking the worst again."

"That's OK. I walked in on them before, it's a bit of a brain scrambler."

To her surprise, she had to smile at that.

"Yea? Well, I have to look at him in a lecture theatre… I have no idea how I'm going to keep a straight face… this was just so… do you think she's Ok?"

"That bad?"

She had to consider that question for a moment. What she'd seen was oddly ambiguous; there had been bite-marks, scratches, and the way he's held her up against the wall, had dug his fingers into her hips, had looked ready to devour her, had almost been violent, but at the same time, there'd been a certain protectiveness in his possessiveness… after all, she was so much smaller than him, and the expression on his face had been open in a way she didn't think any Vulcan's could be. Aureya had seemed entirely lost in what he was doing to her, all trust and devotion, her eyes closed, her head tilted upwards, while he'd rocked into her almost gently.

"No, not that bad."

They had their ice cream, then Shrem walked her home and disappeared into Gaila's apartment after giving her an affectionate pat on the head.

She cried, listing in her mind all the ways in which she'd fooled herself. She didn't know the first thing about love… she didn't even know the first thing about sex. She wasn't pretty, she wasn't funny, not witty, or clever, she was partially terrified of the things she'd seen in that bathroom, and couldn't for the life of her imagine ever wanting to do them with anyone, couldn't imagine allowing herself to let go to such an extent, and simultaneously she was terrified of the fact that she never would.

She contacted Robert and apologised.

She had to face reality; her life had limitations.

**A/N: Reviews are treasured.**


	7. Sensitive

**A/N: I needed cheering up, so I wrote this chapter instead of some of the more darker things I'm working on at the moment… even though this is not all sunshine and puppies either.**

**Some of my main characters' flaws are quite obvious in this, and if you feel the urge to tell Shrem to 'man up', please remember who we're talking about here. As for Christine, well, she'll get there… she sort of knows she's doing things wrong, she's just not brave enough to change them.**

**The notion of an injured antenna as shameful is canon, the uber-sensitivity has been exaggerated for the purpose of this story, but the balance thing is all true, too.**

**The military upbringing I'm referring to is also canon, as Andorian society is fiercely militaristic.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters. I do own my OCs.**

Of all the painful and humiliating things that could have happened during hand to hand, it had to have been this.

Not impressed in the slightest, and simply grateful that nobody seemed to be aware of the social implications of his injury, Shrem was sitting on one of the beds in the Med Lab, when to his absolute horror, Bones walked in with a rather substantial group of first years. He could tell they were first years, because right there at the front of the group, smiling sweetly and waving at him, was Christine, clearly as ignorant as the rest of them to the fact that this was just plain shameful.

"Well, ladies and gents, I have something a little special for you today. What do we remember about Andorian anatomy?"

_Oh great! And he'd thought this couldn't get any worse._

One of the cadets in the back began to stutter something a little incoherently, and Shrem recognised her with a sense of foreboding.

"Thank you Sarah, that's not what I meant… we are all aware of that one, but that does not count as specifically Andorian."

Christine gave a little snort and mumbled:

"Oh that" in reaction to which the entire group turned to her and stared, some of the young men eyeing her as if they had somehow misjudged her previously. She promptly went beet red, waved her hands around a little and protested:

"Ahh, no… I've never seen it… Captain Taylor told me."

Shrem could not help his hand from connecting with his forehead. Chris just kept going:

"No… that came out funny… ahm…"

"Buttercup, why don't you quit while you're ahead?"

"Sorry."

"Right, ladies… can we get on with things? As interesting as you seem to think an in-depth discussion of Cadet P'Grell's reproductive organ would be, can anyone point out the blatantly obvious issue at hand here?" Bones did an awful job of hiding his amusement. One of the young men in the group pointed at Shrem's head and stated with complete nonchalance:

"He's got a bent antenna."

"Well done, Cadet Heart, excellent deductive skills." The sarcasm wasn't even thinly veiled.

Shrem groaned.

He'd have to take Bones aside and give him a long talking to about doing his research about what constituted socially embarrassing injuries before dragging an entire group of cadets along to ogle such a one.

"Do we have any volunteers for examining the injury?"

Shrem was off the bed and backing towards the door within the blink of an eye.

"Hell no! Not a chance. I'm not having a first year Med Support cadet handle one of the most ..." He was doing quite well until he had to avoid the other bed in the room and his impaired sense of balance got him to stumble over it backwards. He landed on his ass on the floor, a small squeak of surprise escaping him.

"Observe, ladies and gentlemen… in Andorians the antennae perform the function usually associated with what part of the body in Terrans?"

"You Texan son of a bitch… You could at least help me up." But Chris was already at his side, dragging him to his feet and simultaneously informing Bones:

"The inner ear, Sir."

"Yup."

"You are actually enjoying this." He was now glaring at Bones.

"Oh come on Shrem, this is pretty funny, and we've done the scans already, it's nothing serious, I just thought it would be nice for the little ones to get some hands on experience with one of the more exotic…" That was as much as he heard of Leonard's speech, because Christine had sat him down on the second bed and was now touching his antenna, her long fingers almost pleasantly cool on the mildly pulsing and distinctly painful appendage.

_Oh, this was all kinds of wrong._

He had to bite his tongue to keep from moaning… and it wasn't from the pain. By the time Chris was done – she'd been so gently and careful he'd almost started to purr while keeping his eyes from rolling into the back of his head – Shrem had had to cross his legs, so he wouldn't draw attention to another, much discussed, part of his body.

"Now, you may apply the gel cushion and splint, and administer the regeneration accelerator." Bones handed her the objects in question, then checked her progress as she did as he instructed. When she was done, he gave it a quick once over, then nodded curtly and announced:

"Excellent job." With that, he marched off, his minions following him through the glass door. Chris stayed where she was, smiling at Shrem, and looking so happy, he promised himself he would never ever tell her about the finer points of Andorian nerve distribution.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" The genuine look of concern on her face, and the almost painfully sincere way with which she gave his antenna on final gentle stroke, made him give her a garbled little snort by way of a reply. He pulled himself together and told her quietly, and truthfully:

"No, you didn't hurt me."

She smiled again, gave him a playful shove the way he would give her on occasion, then made to follow Bones.

"I'll check on you in a bit. And I'll take you home, too; you shouldn't walk around on your own with those balance problems."

"Thanks, Buttercup."

_He'd better not tell Gaila about this either; she'd been itching to get her hands on his antennae since forever, he'd just never let her._

---

He had to make a conscious decision not to be awkward around Christine, which was dumb, really, because he didn't really _do_ awkward. If he did, he'd have to be weird with a substantial part of the female student body, and a much smaller, yet not negligible part of the male… and some faculty members… and some of the service staff… and…

Regardless, the whole point of the matter was that Christine was completely clueless about what had happened; and he wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that she'd sort of performed a sexual act on him without so much as an inkling of what was going on. He also felt a little dishonest for not discussing it with her, but concluded that given her disposition and her benevolent intentions, it would be just plain cruel to tell her.

And quite besides that, it was Bone's fault. He'd had to tell _him_, of course, for future reference; and the older man had done him the satisfaction of turning several different shades of red and purple, before mumbling his apology; only to ruin the whole thing a few moments later by bursting into a fit of laughter, thumping Shrem on the back and joking:

"Well, I don't usually prescribe that sort of thing, but I have to say, you're healing quite nicely… maybe I should make a habit of it… mind you, my other patients would have to take their pants off."

Not usually given to violence, but with his military upbringing rearing its head, Shrem had had to restrain himself from decking Bones one.

"I'm glad you're amused… but if you tell Christine, I swear…"

"What am I? Stark crazy? The girl's sweet in that suppressed ice queen kind of way and all, but I'll be damned if she isn't the prudest poor little rich girl I've ever laid eyes on. I sure as hell don't want to be that messenger. On top of that, this is a rather horrible example of professional incompetence on my part… so, let's just keep this between the two of us."

So, when he found her sitting outside the library, staring into space, a small frown on her lips, he had to do a mental doggy shake, before he approached, flopped down on the bench beside her and put his arm around her.

"What's wrong, Sunshine?"

She gave a small start, but then smiled at him. He noticed it wasn't her happy smile, more of a watery 'I don't want to bother you with my problems' smile. He did the only thing he could think of under the circumstances, and wedged his fingers into her armpits and wriggled them. She shrieked and promptly fell forward off the bench.

Sprawled on the floor in public, glaring up at him in complete horror, she huffed:

"I can't believe you just did that."

He gave her his best evil grin, not perturbed in the slightest, and told her:

"Hmmmmm, so, someone is ticklish… that's good to know."

"You big blue weirdo!" She didn't sound angry, so he smiled, leaned forward, and asked:  
"'You gonna tell me, or do you need a repeat of my persuasion attempt?"

She sat back down next to him, keeping a rather large space between them, and sighed:  
"It's complicated… I don't really want to talk about it… or, rather, I don't know how to talk about it."

"OK, you don't have to… you just looked down, so I thought I'd better ask." He was contemplating a few things that might cheer her up, take her to that weird exotic pet shop she liked, or maybe more ice cream…

"It's just… it's Robert."

_Uh-oh._

"I phoned and apologised, and he was all graciously forgiving, and now I need to sort of make it up to him… and, I just don't know."

_Tread lightly here._

"What did you apologise for?"  
"Well… I… wouldn't sleep with him last time because I was angry… he thought Starfleet was a phase and… I shouldn't be talking about this, it's private, and… ahhh, I just don't know…"

She put her face in her hands, shaking her head, then looked up at him and muttered:

"Sorry, I shouldn't have started this…"

Taking a deep breath, he put his arm around her again and said:

"Don't talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, but if you're concerned that it'll make me blush or something, then don't worry … come on, you know me well enough by now, am I, or am I not a veritable slut? I'm not bothered by sex talk."

She went pink but giggled anyways.

"Shrem, that's a horrible thing to say… you're… ahm… adventurous?"

"If that makes you feel better… fine, but I still think I'm a slut." He grinned widely, indicating that he wasn't the least bit precious about that sort of thing.

Looking around to check on their relative privacy, she leaned closer and whispered:

"I don't like it, Ok?"

"Now you're being cryptic." He whispered back.

She gave him an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Don't laugh… I know you guys all think I'm the biggest prude and all that, and that's OK, I sort of am… but I think I'm doing quite well with the 'to each their own' thing… it's just… I personally don't like sex." She looked really uncomfortable at this, then shook her head again.

"I'm being ridiculous… Robert has his needs, and I just have to…. I don't know why it's bothering me so much all of a sudden… I mean, we've been together for nine years, and…"

Shrem was vaguely aware of the fact that he was just sitting there and staring at her; his mind a jumble of expletives. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment, then squeezed her shoulder:

"This might not be my place, but are you sure you're with the right guy?"

"Like I said, it's complicated… and it's not Robert's fault, it's me, really it is… and on top of that, he makes my parents happy, and I've already upset them by joining Starfleet, and then there's the whole Will thing… I can't do that to them, not now… and nine years is such a long time; you can't turn your back on something like that… I have obligations, and… Ah, never mind, you wouldn't understand."

His mind went blank, then he got inexplicably angry.

"No… no, I wouldn't understand… bloody hell, Christine. Fuck whether it's my place to say anything or not… 'he makes your parents happy'?!… are you even listening to yourself?! Obligations? Holy crap… you… I… Is this some really sick self-delusion, are you mentally trapped in another century or something?"

She looked at him, a mixture of shock and disappointed hurt on her face.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you. How stupid am I? Of all the people I know you're the least likely to be delicate about something like…"

"Delicate? Delicate?" He was sounding a little hysterical now, his voice even higher than usual.

She was starting to lose it too.

"You like sex… good for you,… you have lots of it… good for you… but you don't know the first thing about committed relationships, about love, so don't pretend like you can give me advice. You wanted me to talk so you could insult me?"

She stood and took a few determined steps away from him, quite irrationally, he followed her and grabbed her arm, yanking her back a little too forcefully.

"You are seriously trying to lecture me about love, using that bastard Robert as an example? Have you met Bones and Noyota? Have you met Spock and Aureya? I'm ignorant, but I'm not blind… are _you_?"

She was trying to free her arm, struggling futilely in his grasp, he noticed some tears in her eyes and relented, letting her go.

"Why are you like this?… I thought you were my friend. So I have problems… why are you angry with me… you were hurting me." She was crying now, not the violent sobs he'd seen before, but quietly, tears running down her cheeks while she was talking.

"No, I'm not blind… and I'm not an idiot either… I know what I have isn't…" She did give a little sob at this, then waved her hand in a small circle. "And I have met them… that's just it… I'll never be like that… I wouldn't know how… Robert wants me just the way I am, and… Can't you understand that?"

There was a giant knot in his stomach and a lump in his throat, and before he could help himself he was crying too.

"Oh, Buttercup, I'm so sorry, I don't know why I got angry…. I'm so sorry." He just grabbed her and hugged her to him; she struggled a little but gave up after a few seconds.

_He was such an idiot, what was he thinking getting involved and all worked up like that? This was none of his business, even if she was his friend. She was a grown woman; she had to make her own decisions. All he could do was be supportive, and shouting at her and calling her crazy right outside the library, sure wasn't being supportive._

He was swaying them both from side to side now, mumbling "I'm sorry" over and over again; he noticed a few cadets looking oddly at them, apparently they had finally drawn some attention.

"I don't know why I told you, I shouldn't have… I just wanted to hear that it's OK, that it's normal, but it isn't, is it?" She was sobbing into his chest, and even though he knew that she was tall for a girl, she felt tiny and fragile in his arms.

"It's OK." He told her.

"Liar."

---

He went over the whole thing time and time again, and for the life of him could not explain why he'd lost it like that. He was usually even-tempered, pretty hard to shake, as a matter of fact, but somehow all that talk of obligation and duty had made him furious. He knew Christine well enough at this stage to realise she was playing the martyr, doing what was expected of her just because she'd done one damn thing for herself. He wished he could do the conversation over, talk to her again, be calm and eloquent… but he didn't trust himself with that. And he thought he had insulted her enough that one time, no point in doing it again.

So, he politely inquired after Robert's next visit, which turned out to be only a week and a half away, and offered his assistance. He baked a cake, and helped her with the food. She was quiet and almost sullen during the entire time. He desperately wanted to tell her that she was doing the wrong thing, that she needed to send that idiot packing, but didn't have the first clue as to how.

He left half an hour before Robert's expected arrival, curled up on Gaila's couch and sulked like a child.

He tried very hard not to listen for footsteps outside the apartment, but heard them anyways. Robert arrived at 1800 hours and left a mere 47 minutes later, not that Shrem was paying attention or anything. He waited another half an hour, then went over to Christine's and beeped her door. She opened, fully dressed, her face a little blotchy, but otherwise expressionless.

"You OK?" He couldn't help but sound oddly squeaky.

"Now you're being weird, Shrem, you're making it sound like I had a root canal."

That comment made him oddly uncomfortable.

_So much for not minding sex talk._

"I should go, it's weird that I'm even here." He made to turn, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"No, it's OK. I sort of need a drink anyways."

"I thought Robert doesn't like it when you drink?"

"Oh well, look at this as yet another sick facet of my life."

There were just so many things he wished he could put into coherent thoughts, put into words, but he just shrugged, and smiled, and led the way to the turbo lift.

She seemed oddly relieved somehow, as she leaned against the wall of the lift beside him.

"He's going on a research trip for three months… to Tellar Prime… do you think it's really bad that I'm happy about that?"

"Yes."

"Oh well."

He wondered if it was really bad that he felt happy about it too.

_Must be some weird after-effect of the whole antenna touching, after all, nobody else has ever done that before; too intimate, too sensitive._

**A/N: You know the drill… reviews make me happy.**


	8. Art and Freedom

**A/N: I've had one of the worst months ever… seriously. So I hope you'll forgive the horrendous delay on this chapter, I hope there are even still people out there reading this. (I updated one of my other stories yesterday and was greeted with almost deafening silence). I could really use some encouragement right about now, so I'll shamelessly beg for reviews.**

**Oh, also, I wanted to point out that Christine does not really have a drink problem… she's a student and has been kept on a short leash for way to long… let the girl have some fun… she'll get over the talking thing in time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters; I do own my OCs… yay!**

It still felt like the strangest thing, this odd mixture of simply letting go, not thinking, and intense concentration, focusing on her goal while not being cerebral at all. She liked it; it was immensely liberating.

"Beautiful, my dear, keep it up."

Her instructor, a woman in her late 40s with that distinctly arty flair that only came with colourful silk scarves and too much silver jewellery, swept past behind Christine, glanced at the canvas on her esle and smiled indulgently.

Christine wasn't too sure if 'beautiful' was quite what she was going for, after all, the colours mainly used in her current painting were black and a glaring orange, but then again, she'd long since understood that everyone had the right to see just what pleased them as far as art was concerned.

_What a shockingly non-deterministic view of the world… mother would be outraged, particularly since she views anything post mid-21__st__ century as simply tasteless and vulgar._

A soft smile played across her lips as she contemplated what else her mother might deem 'vulgar'. Like the fact that she'd gone shopping with Gaila, Aureya, and Noyota the day before, and that they'd ended up in a lingerie boutique… turns out, there is such a thing as sexy underwear for severely pregnant women. Noyota had blushed furiously, hat stuttered something along the lines of 'oh my, well who'd have thought', and then had bought a little pale blue ensemble anyway. Gaila had practically cleared them out, and Aureya had to be wrestled into getting a sheer white shift with bright red panties.

"This is ridiculous… all that money, and they won't survive for more than 30 seconds." She'd huffed.

"That's the point, sweetie." Gaila's wicked little grin had made Eya blush and nod.

The complete absence of anything that could vaguely be described as a jealous pang had mildly surprised Christine.

_Yup, that had definitely been more of a theoretical rather than an actual crush. Oh well._

She had, however, been a little hurt that nobody even suggested she go and pick something for herself; the silent understanding of all the things she did not discuss with the other women hung heavily over the racks of flimsy lace and satin. Robert was not going for another week, and Christine wondered whether her friends should not have suggested she surprise him before then; she was sure they would have, had it been anyone but her. The question of whether this was a judgment on her as a person, or merely her relationship with Robert lodged itself uncomfortably somewhere in the pit of her stomach. She decided she did not want to delve too deep.

Coming out of her reverie, she noticed that her painting had dramatically gained in black; frowning slightly, she added some red, and then a rather revolting shade of dirty yellow.

_There! I think I'll call it 'Robert'… Oh Lord, I need psychiatric help._

"Very intense." Ms Loranza, her instructor, muttered thoughtfully from just behind her.

"Beautiful… but not happy, I think."

Turning, she gave the older woman a small smile, nodded and said rather quietly:

"No, not happy."

_Well, apparently sometimes people did see what she put into something._

As she packed up her supplies and brought the finished canvas to the climate controlled drying room, she felt oddly peaceful. She was glad Shrem and Lily had talked her into taking up art classes, no matter how odd or dark her thoughts might be while she was working on a painting, she always felt cleansed afterwards, it was… therapeutic… meditative.

***

She'd decided to take some of her earlier pieces home that evening, they were fully dried and would bring some colour to what Shrem liked to call her 'decontamination chamber of a room'. She liked clean and tidy, but she supposed it could not hurt to make the whole thing a bit more comfortable. The giant multicoloured throw that Shrem had made her looked a little lost in the otherwise colourless room, and Christine had decided it couldn't hurt to give it some friends. She struggled a little with the bigger of the two canvases and had just sunk into what was becoming an embarrassing habit of limbo-shuffling towards her access pad, elbow extended, when Gaila's door slid open.

"Hey honey, need a hand there?" Not waiting for an answer, Gaila had clearly meant it as a rhetorical question, the younger woman grabbed both wrapped up parcels and smiled brightly at Christine.

"Thanks… Ahm, tea?" Christine still wasn't particularly eloquent with anyone but Shrem, but she was getting better.

"Dinner?" Gaila offered instead. "I got some really nice tubar root at the marked and some chicken, I sort of suck at cooking, but if the ingredients are OK, how hard can it be?"

They'd made it into Christine's apartment at this stage and Christine indicated her kitchen table so Gaila could set down the paintings.

"Pretty hard, actually… I suck too, I have experience with mucking up the best of ingredients." Christine smiled shyly and was pleased to hear Gaila laugh.

"Wanna suck together… and I mean that in the entirely food related, non oral sex kind of way."

Christine knew she'd just gone bug-eyed again. Gaila giggled and added:

"Not that you're not cute… in that whole new-born giraffe kind of way…"

"Ahhhm… thanks… I think?"

Fortunately Gaila chose that moment to change the subject:

"So, what are those?"

"Oh." Christine couldn't help the warm feeling of excitement spreading through her chest; she quickly unwrapped the two pieces and leaned them against her bed. She noticed she was holding her breath.

"Holy shit! Where did you get these?... And how expensive were they? Because I want one." There was a distinct fluttery sensation right where Christine's heart was and she couldn't help but smile widely. She just grabbed the larger (and in her opinion nicer) one of the two, and held it out to her neighbour:

"Here, it's yours."

It was Gaila's turn to look shocked.

"I can't accept that honey, it must have cost a fortune and I…"

"I painted it,… plenty more to come."

Gaila just stared in silence, something akin to reverence on her face. Christine's heart was still dancing the rumba, so she just grabbed the store-bought crème caramel she had in her fridge.

"So, dinner? You' all alone today… that's unusual."

Gaila caught herself and smirked:

"Shocking, isn't it?... and, ahm… I mean… thank you."

"Sure… you do know that you'll be inundated with paintings, right? Nobody's reacted this enthusiastically before."

"What can I say, I'm now officially your biggest fan."

---

They really did both suck at cooking. They barely managed not to burn the tubar root, which would have been an achievement, since it was boiled in plenty of water. The chicken ended up fully cooked but anaemic looking and rubbery in texture. The frozen broccoli turned out barely edible, since they forgot about it while debating where to hang Christine's painting, and it ended up being mushy and a distinct shade of grey.

The only thing vaguely enjoyable was the desert, and neither of them could claim credit for it. It might be noteworthy that by the time they actually had desert, they were into their second bottle of wine, so it could have been awful, really, at that stage it was anyone's guess.

"I miss Shrem… this would have been spectacular if he'd cooked it." Gaila stated rather wistfully.

"He's only at the other end of campus, Gaila." Christine noted, then thought about it some more and added:

"We should definitely have called him. I'm sure some people complement each other with their cooking skills, you know, two bad cooks being bearable together… but we clearly make each other worse."

For some inexplicable reason, Gaila found this hilarious. She deigned to clarify once her fit of giggles had subsided:

"I was just thinking how funny it is that you'd probably consider his cooking skills as his most impressive feature, whereas I know better."

This was followed by another fit of giggles and Christine just grunted:

"Seriously? That again? Why can't people shut up about that? I'm starting to feel a little sorry for him… Isn't that objectification?"

"Huh?'

"You know… the whole 'oh, he's a big boy' thing." Christine felt incredibly sheepish, and a little guilty, discussing Shrem's privates with his girlfriend.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about size, I was talking about technique, honey."

"Oh good, that's so much better." Christine muttered.

"You're not really offended, are you? I'm not making fun of him, I'm just…"

"This conversation is weird."

"Yea… hey, since we're having one of those, and since I'm sort of tipsy… can I ask you something?"

"Does it have something to do with Shrem's penis? 'Cause I really only know what Captain Taylor told me."

They both burst out laughing, and Christine couldn't help but feel a little smug at the success of her joke, even if she'd clearly just violated her own rule against objectifying Shrem.

_My parents would both have strokes if they could hear this conversation._

"No, not really… or, well… a little… but only remotely."

"OK?"

"You're monogamous, right?"

"---"

"I mean, you don't sleep with anyone but Robert, right."

"Yes?"

"How is that?"

"Ahhm… are we talking about you or me here?"

"Me. Does it matter?"

"Yes… I mean, are you asking me because you think I shouldn't be monogamous, or because… of something else?"

"Something else."

"Gaila, you'll have to give me more than that."

"You're really unhappy, right… and I was wondering if that is because you only get to do the dirty with one guy, or because he is just the wrong guy… I was wondering if you think it would be OK if it was the right guy?"

"---"

"I'm sorry, Chris… did I just insult you?"

"Ahm… yes."

"Sorry." Gaila looked down at the glass of wine clasped in her hand, Christine thought she seemed oddly vulnerable and shy all of a sudden.

"Is it that obvious… I mean that I'm not hap…"

"Yes."

"Oh… who are you trying to dump?"

"I'm not trying to dump anyone… I mean, I know that you think of the two guys as my boyfriends, but they're not… we're… friends with benefits… I was just wondering if I maybe wanted one of them to be my boyfriend." She'd never heard the younger woman speak so quietly, sound so insecure.

"Which one?"

"Jim."

"---"

"Say something."

"Why would you want to not have sex with Shrem anymore… you were just joking about… ahm… you know…"

"I love Shrem… the same way I love Aureya, and possibly Pavel… they are my very best friends, and if you asked me to die for them, I probably would… and don't get me wrong, Shrem is phenomenal in the sack… technically and equipment-wise better than Jim… but I think I might _feel_ differently about that stupid Terran idiot."

"Ahhmm…"

"I mean, sex is great… and if you have sex with someone you love it's even better… but if you're _in_ love with someone… never mind… I'm talking complete nonsense here." Gaila stood up quite abruptly and began to clear the table. Feeling so far out of her depth that her brain currently resembled a mass of scrambled egg, Christine could think of nothing better to do but help.

It wasn't until all the dishes and pots were neatly put away, that her mind seemed to oblige her with coherent sentences again.

"You can't do that to Shrem. He's the sweetest person I know,… why would you…?"

"Oh honey, it's not like that. I know you still find it hard to look at things from someone else's perspective, but trust me, I wouldn't be hurting his feelings… I mean, sure, I'm bendy and have a rather talented tongue, but Shrem wouldn't have any problems replacing me… only where the sex is concerned… we'd love each other just the same… as friends, the way we always have." She gave a small snorty laugh and added:

"And I'm pretty sure he'd still cook for me, too, so, that's all good."

Christine couldn't help but frown deeply and feel supremely uncomfortable simply thinking about all of this.

"Chris, honey… I know how close you and Shrem are… I shouldn't have asked you." Gaila was chewing her lower lip now, giving her a rather doleful look.

"Do you still want an answer?" Christine queried, taking a large sip from the glass of wine she'd brought into the kitchen with her.

"Sure… please."

"I don't know, Gaila, I really don't. I actually think you might have more of a clue about this than me. Think about it… the first thing anyone seems to notice about my love life is that I'm horrendously unhappy… as if it's printed on my forehead or something… I haven't discussed Robert with anyone but Shrem, but still everyone knows… and I'm sure Shrem didn't tell you anything. Why would you even ask me?… I'm clearly the most clueless person around. You could have asked Nyo or Eya."

Gaila was silent, staring at her own glass once again.

"I think I know why you asked me anyway. Nyo and Eya would just have said 'yes', right?"

Gaila nodded:

"I don't think happy people make the best advisors."

"Deep… so you picked me, because you thought I'd be impartial?"

Another nod and silence.

"Gaila, I think you knew the answer before you asked me."

A rather hesitant nod, and:

"I'm sorry, Chris."

Christine downed the last of her wine in one large gulp, then gave her friend a small smile:

"It's alright… just don't hurt Shrem… I'd have issues with that."

Gaila smiled in return and tilted her head to the side.

"Can I ask you another one of those questions… you know, one of the ones where we both know the answer already?"

Christine just quirked her eyebrows but said nothing.

"Why is it that you think it's OK to be unhappy?,… Who on earth ever said you had to stay that way when you can help it?… And don't you have friends to tell you to suck it up and do something about it?"

The crooked grin on Gaila's lips told Christine that she was doing just that: being her friend and telling her to get over herself.

"Good night, Gaila, and thank you for dinner." Christine gave the other woman's arm an affectionate squeeze and was caught a little off guard when she caught her hand, pulled her towards her and put a small kiss on her lips.

"Orion custom, deal with it… and good night."

***

She'd barely slept the previous night, fragments of her rather odd conversation with Gaila replaying in her mind on an infinite loop. Her… friend had seemed so shy and insecure about her affections, demonstrating just how mistaken her initial judgment of her had been. Sure, she was all confidence and swagger when it came to sex, but she seemed just as fragile as any other girl when it came to love. And there was that word again: 'love', the one Christine was hiding from even more than the three letter one she now spoke of so regularly with her new friends: 'sex'.

Glad that it was Tuesday, a day where she had no lectures, and nursing her second cup of coffee, she sighed heavily and gave one of her determined little 'huh' sounds. Time to face some truths; if only tow hours of sleep, a slight hangover, and a decent dose of caffeine couldn't make her honest with herself, then what could?

Truth number one: She didn't love Robert… never had, and never would. She had been impressed, almost intimidated, by his academic brilliance, had been flattered by his interest in her, and had been too young and painfully shy to know how to refuse him… and then she'd been stuck.

Truth number two: She didn't like sex, but that was no reason to keep having it with a guy she didn't love. She was in no way ready to even contemplate if she'd have better sex with someone else… right now her priority had to be to stop having bad sex, full stop.

Truth number three: She was scared senseless… positively chicken shit… about attempting to change anything about her situation. She had done nothing but strive to please her family, and Robert, for so long, it felt entirely alien to her to do anything else.

The word 'alien' sort of made her smile.

Truth number four: She had friends now… the kind she'd never had before… people who liked her just the way she was, who made fun of her in the sort of way that told her they cared, and who wouldn't even blink if she decided to paint herself purple and insisted they all call her 'Oh-ye-great-aubergine-of-wisdom' from now on. Ok, so her friends were crazy, but that was sort of her point.

Truth number five: She loved Starfleet, loved everything about it. She loved her classes, becoming a nurse, the supplementary art course she was taking, the knitting circle… _everything_. They would have to drag her away from her in a coffin.

This made her think of Will, and how she had come for him, because of him, but also how this had stopped being only about him, and now was so much about herself.

So, she had a third cup of coffee, which made her sort of jittery… or had she been like that already?... showered and got dressed – opting for something low cut because she knew he would hate it – and made her way to the campus shuttle port. She'd looked up the departure times on her PAD, and the next craft leaving for Boston was scheduled for 1140 hours. She was paying Robert a surprise visit after all… only it would most definitely not involve skimpy panties.

---

It had never occurred to her how strange it was that she had only been to Robert's laboratory a handful of times. Approximately four or five visits in nine years should have seemed oddly little to her. He had insisted that she would only distract him, and that he did not like mixing the professional with the personal, and the girl she had been had accepted this without question… it was a little scary to realise how much she had changed in the few months she'd been in Starfleet.

A voice in her head, sounding suspiciously like Gaila, just shrieked a very loud:

"Woooo-hoooo!"

_Correction: Her friends were turning __**her**__ crazy._

Somehow she managed to bypass the receptionist, she wasn't in the mood to fill out forms, explain herself, or have Robert dodge her somehow. She remembered the way to his office well enough, and as she exited the turbo lift on his floor, she wondered if she shouldn't have stopped off for a drink somewhere… both for liquid courage – she was so much more fluent and eloquent when she'd had something to drink – and to irritate Robert further.

_Right, might have a mild alcohol problem here… and why am I trying to make him angry again?_

As it turned out, she was fine without the alcohol, and even without the extra incentive of an infuriated and therefore even more unbearable Robert. She opened the door to his office, not bothering to knock… which, in hindsight she wouldn't be able to explain, it was just one of those fortunate things that were uncharacteristic but oh so fortunate… entered the room and stopped in her tracks.

Robert was leaning backwards on his desk, his head back, his eyes closed, and his pants around his ankles. A woman in a white coat, her back to Christine, was kneeling between his legs, and judging from the fact that her head was bobbing up and down and slurping noises were coming from where Robert's crotch was obscured from view by the enthusiastically swaying head of light brown hair, Christine ventured that she had arrived at a rather inopportune moment.

Neither of the two had noticed her as yet.

_What was it with her and walking in on people having sex and being inevitably ignored?_

At this point Robert started to make little grunting noises, the ones he usually emitted just before cuming. Christine sneered.

It was pretty much at this stage that she realised that she did not feel what she was presumably supposed to feel. She was a little disgusted, somewhat irritated at having to witness this, but she was most definitely not hurt… as a matter of fact, there was a certain lightness, a distinct sense of curious disinterest spreading through her. As Robert's grunts became louder, Christine thought it prudent to clear her throat. A number of things happened simultaneously after that: Robert's eyes shot open, he scrambled for his trousers, all the while cupping his privates, and the woman in front of him got to her feet so fast, she stumbled backwards a little; her mouth was in the shape of a small 'o', and Christine wondered if that was because she was surprised, or because it was still shaped according to where it had just been. She noted the rather obvious youth of the woman, assuming that she could not be more than 20 and must be a student intern at the lab.

_Oh well, he'd always like them young._

"Christine!" Robert sounded breathless and a little scandalised, as if he was somehow blaming her for walking in on him. And then the most amazing thing happened: Christine began to laugh; and it was genuine, not frustrated, hysterical laughter, but amusement, and relief, and a healthy appreciation for the ridiculous all mixed into one.

"Christine?"

She briefly marvelled at his eloquence, then pulled herself together, and with one final low giggle told him earnestly:

"Robert, thank you. I've been agonising over the conversation I was planning on having with you today, but you've just made things so much easier."

_Who needs alcohol? I'm talking just fine._

Slipping the rather large diamond ring from her left hand, she placed it carefully on his desk beside him. She gave him a curt nod, smiled almost pityingly at the young woman, and left. She figured she'd made things pretty clear.

She arrived back in her apartment two hours later, exhausted but strangely giddy; she had not stopped smiling the entire way back.

_Yup, I definitely need psychiatric help._

Checking her fridge for wine (as usual there wasn't any… better raid Gaila's), she noticed the small indicator light on her com screen was blinking: she had a message.

"Computer, relay saved data."

As the screen came to life Robert's face appeared:

"Christine, I don't know what you were thinking arriving at my office unannounced, all I can say is that what you witnessed was of no importance. You must be aware that the rather irregular and somewhat unsatisfactory physical relationship we share is not enough to alleviate my urges… it is perfectly understandable that I would look elsewhere. Perhaps if you were more accommodating… well, be that as it may… you have been overly emotional and irrational as of late, so I will be lenient and overlook your outburst of today. I will keep your engagement ring safe until my return from Tellar, when you will indubitably have come to your senses… Think of your parents, Christine. I will speak to you soon."

She was just staring at the now once again transparent screen, mouth open, eyes wide. For lack of anything better to do, she just burst out laughing again, then muttered under her breath:

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

When she'd recovered, wiping a tear of mirth from her cheek, she plopped down on her bed with a distinct feeling of happy "now what?". She tried to pinpoint this odd sense of relief, of weightlessness she'd felt right from the very moment she'd set that ring down on Robert's desk… and just like that it came to her: "freedom."

She felt a wide grin spread across her face as she got up, walked out of her apartment and beeped the pad across he hall.

"Hi sweetie, you look happy." Gaila beamed as her door slid open.

"I am… got any wine?"

"Sure."

"Cool."

**A/N: I'm in dire need of reviews… seriously. Oblige me?**


	9. All The Single

**A/N: Wow… you guys are seriously the best thing since sliced bread… I mean: wow! I can't believe you rallied like that… I went to my computer this morning… all mopy and already feeling sorry for myself (I get my reviews first thing in the morning, what with most of you being in the US and the time difference and all), and the reviews started pouring in… ahm, I seriously love you!!!!! I mean it!**

**And since so many of you seem to be having a rotten time at the moment too (Sabriel, honey, I hope you're feeling better), I figured I'll just focus on All Green and Blue and give you lot as many updates as I can manage (I'll put my other stuff on the backburner for the time being… you all deserve my full attention right now.)**

**And this is how this works, ladies and… ahm? (I don't think there are any gentlemen reading this, are there?): You review, and I write twice as fast.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, nothing else.**

Jim's head was lolling forward in a wobbly semi-circle before his chin came to rest on his chest; he gave a small snort and looked up almost as if startled.

"You're drunk." Shrem informed him.

"O' course I 'm… wouldn' you be?"

"Fair enough."

"Why _arn'_ you drunk?"

"Six foot four, one-hundred-and-twenty-seven kilos, five beers… not gonna happen."

"No' what I meant… You' not upset?"

"I think you're plenty upset for the both of us, sweetie."

"Don' call me that."

"Honey? Treasure? Bunny? Captikens?"

"Shrem!"

Shrem ruined his own joke at this point by bursting into a small fit of giggles, the indignant scowl on Jim's face, coupled with his heavily lidded eyes and slightly swaying form was just too much to handle.

"Calm down, Jim. Gaila just wanted to hear our opinion, she hasn't exactly told you to marry her or anything… even though I'm pretty sure if that ever came about, that would be exactly how she'd do it: she'd just tell you."

There was another scowl, which Shrem took as concerned agreement.

"'Don' know if I can do this." The older man's expression had become genuinely concerned, he gave Shrem one of his lost puppy looks, then downed the last of his beer and waved the empty glass at Bob and then almost smacked Shrem in one antenna when he indicated him with the same glass.

"Watch it, that one's still not at full capacity."

"Sorry…. Phffft… you've got antennae."

_Brilliant! Jim had just passed emotional drunk and had gone straight into silly, annoying drunk… just wonderful._

"Yea, yea… and I'm blue…" He sounded intentionally bored.

"That's not funny."

_Figures._

"So, you're not sure you can do this… do you _want_ to?"

"I dunno… just one chick… that's kinda weird… don' you think?"

"Well, yea… but we're not talking about me here."

"'S just… I don' know anyone like her… well, I don' know anyone like you, or Eya, or Pavel, or Bones, or…"

"I get it, Jim… but anyways, Gaila's special."

"Yea, man."

"Right… and?"

"Ahhm… just… sometimes when it's just the two of us…" He seemed to get flustered at this, turning halfway on his stool and throwing Bob a reproachful look, as if a full glass of beer in his hand _right now_ would solve his problem. Shrem figured some light teasing was in order:

"You miss my naked ass and think it's not the same without me?"

"No!"

Shrem crossed his arms in front of his chest and chucked at his friend's obvious discomfort.

"Sometimes I think stuff I don' us'ally think, you know… like how pretty she is, or how great… ah, shit, never mind… you don't think those sorts'a things?"

"Are you asking me if I think Gaila is pretty and great, or are you asking me if I have these random tender moments where my brain goes mushy and I turn into a girl?"

"Oh, shuddup Shrem… and look who d' fuck 's talkin'… you prac'lly _are_ a girl."

Shrem just shook his head, the oddly vulnerable and completely pissed off expression on Jim's face making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He'd only used the girl thing because he knew it would rile the other man, but there was something almost cute and adorable about that whole drunk macho I-don't-have-feelings crap.

"I think you have your answer, Jim."

"Well, shit."

Bob placed two full glasses in front of them with a rather audible 'clack' and raised an eyebrow at Jim, who'd once again slumped forward and was now the picture of misery.

"What's wrong with him?" He turned his mildly curious gaze on Shrem.

"Oh, he's screwed…he's in love, and she loves him back… tragedy."

He downed a substantial part of his beer and winked at Bob, who just rolled his eyes and made his way back to the other end of the bar again.

"How _come_ you' not upset?" Jim asked his beer.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll miss your tight little body, sweetie, but you're not all that."

"Uhhhh… and 's not so funny now that I know you sleep with guys."

"So, you figured that one out?"

Jim surprised him and just shrugged:

"I know you like girls better… why'd you do it?"

"Why not?"

"Fair 'nough… Waddabout Chris?"

"Interesting mental leap, but you'll have to fill me in on how you got there."

"I mean: 'You sleepin' with Chris?"

"What? Hell no!"

"OK then… no need to get pissed… she's not _that_ bad."

"Not that…? …what?... now hang on a minute here… Chris is great… and pretty… and way too caring for her own good, only she doesn't know it, and…"

"Fas'natin'"

***

The more peculiar parts of their conversation stayed with Shrem all week. He was genuinely happy for Jim and Gaila; the fact that their first tentative steps in the realm of monogamy were freaking hilarious… like watching a couple of still blind kittens wobbling around, looking for milk… certainly helped too.

But two things had struck him: Firstly, the fact that, no, he'd never had a random tender moment with Gaila, or anyone else for that matter, and had never thought too much about that, but suddenly he wondered if this should warrant some attention.

Secondly, the mention of Christine in the context of sex had oddly thrown him for a loop. He'd thought about her in that way… what with the whole antenna fiasco, how could he not have… but always in a rather theoretical capacity. There was something very asexual about Christine… no, actually, that wasn't entirely true… it was the wrong word… there was something sexually fragile about her, and he felt almost guilty thinking about her naked and sweaty… even though….

_Yea, he'd just gone and freaked himself out again… in that disturbing, aroused kind of way… great!_

And the whole 'breaking up with cheating ass-wipe Robert' thing didn't exactly help his little mental issues… even though it was great, of course; that man should be shot into a sun. But here was the thing: What Christine needed was a friend, not a fuck buddy… and seeing as those were the two things he was good at (apart from engineering, and cooking, and… oh well, a few others), and considering that Christine was the sort of girl where he'd have to pick being one – unlike Gaila, who could handle both at the same time – he had to go with the first one. Still, he was standing there, screwing up the wiring of their model flyer for the third time, which made Eya lightly smack him on the back of the head (she had to jump pretty high to do that… so it meant she was pissed if she was willing to put in all that effort), staring at Christine, who was happily discussing hull coatings with Pavel, and wondering what the hell Jim had to go and put weird thoughts in his head for.

"Andromeda's pussy, what is wrong with you today?... Or in general? You've been spacing out non-stop… I thought you were OK with the whole Gaila Jim 'we now only fuck each other' thing."

"What?... No, I am… I'm a bit preoccupied… Do you think they're onto something… I mean just one…"

"Ahm… Shrem, baby… you _do_ know who you're talking to, right? I'm sort of, for all intents and purposes, married."

"Right… never mind."

As if on cue, the hanger doors opened and Spock stepped through them, a tray of thermal cups balanced on one hand and a rather large box on the other; after setting both down to relock the doors, he made his way towards their table.

"I believe there is a certain fondness for creating 'traditions' in this group; even though I have pointed out on numerous occasions that this is a grave misapplication of the term, I thought it might be appreciated if I hold with one of the actions that I have performed every year since first being involved in the Lennox Challenge."

Aureya practically glowed, her smile so wide Shem thought the top of her face might fall off.

"You brought us coffee and doughnuts?"

"Indeed."

Aureya turned to Shrem, both hands on her hips, a mockingly stern expression on her face, and eve though he didn't have that whole mental bond thing going on with her, he was pretty sure she was telling him:

"And you go and ask stupid questions like that… my man just brought me sweets and you wonder if monogamy is the answer… really."

_Weird._

Pavel had made it over to them, Jim, Gaila, Lily, and Chris right behind him, and was stuffing half a doughnut into his mouth before giving a little squawk and announcing around a mouthful of sugary mush:

"Oh, 'fore … forget, Sirr," some mush flew out of his mouth at that "I'f laid a course fo'… challenge." He finally swallowed. "Vould you mind checking it?"

"Is it entirely ethical for a competitor to actually lay the course, Mr Chekov?"

Pavel looked a little sheepish when he answered:

"I did suggest you, Sirr, but Aureya and Shrem insisted that you vould not approve of inconweniencing Commander Grogan by hawing the final stretch of the course run past his office vindow, Sirr."

"We wanted to go _through_ the office originally, but that wasn't really feasible." Eya supplemented helpfully.

Spock gave her a firm look:

"I thought we talked about this, Cadet Newman, the irrational dislike that both you and Cadet P'Grell have for Commander Grogan is unnecessarily complicating what is already a highly dubious endeavour at best."

_Uh-oh, he'd just called them 'Cadets', bad sign._

"Actually, _Sir_, you talked, and I said that your professional integrity was admirable… true, but not a form of agreement. As for Commander Grogan… the man covered the basic components of a warp core in his last lecture, I can practically _feel_ my brain-cells shrinking every time he opens his mouth… not to mention that he insulted Shrem by calling him 'blue mountain'… and that, _Sir_, is unprofessional."

"If I remember correctly, Commander Gnall used to call him 'big, blue, and frisky', I fail to perceive the difference."

Shrem felt decidedly uncomfortable at this point, glancing over the faces of their small circle of friends battling it out for the last few doughnuts, he noticed Christine giving him an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow. He sort of forgot about Eya and Spock bickering for a bit… sometimes he thought they just started these little arguments to have make-up sex… and thought about how glad he was that Christine's smiles had multiplied by about 100. Smiling back, rolling his eyes, and giving her a small shrug, he turned to Spock:

"My friends may call me whatever they want, Sir… Grogan intended to be hurtful in his comment… I'm sure you perceive the difference in _that_." He gave Spock a soft smile to take away from the rather direct nature of his words, even though Spock would be the last person to ever be insulted by a statement of facts.

Due to form, the older man gave him a thoughtful nod, then stated:

"I see. Still, do you think it is wise to indulge in personal vengeance during the course of something that should be executed with the memory of precisely the kind of friends you were speaking of in mind?"

"I'm pretty confident that both Commanders Lennox and Gnall are figuratively rotating in their graves due to Commander Grogan's attempts to ruin all their fine work, Sir."

Spock just quirked an eyebrow and looked pensive.

_Good enough._

***

The day he'd been dreading for weeks finally arrived. He'd been issued with instructions to care for his injured antenna himself, but had to go for one final examination to verify that everything had healed according to plan. He was now standing opposite Bones in a small room in the med lab, both men with their arms crossed, their stance wide, and eyes squinty as they glared at each other. Eya was fond of old Terran westerns, and Shrem thought that all that was missing was a ball of tumble weed bouncing across the disinfected floor.

"So, how exactly are we going to do this?"

"I don't know, but you're not touching it."

"I don't bloody wanna touch it… damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not your little sex bunny."

They glared some more.

"Oh hey Shrem, I'm off in 15, want to grab some lunch then?"

Both men jumped like skittish deer when Christine poked her head into the room and a horrible sense of foreboding came over Shrem; turning frightened eyes back to Bones, his worst fears were confirmed when he saw the huge evil grin now spreading across his friend's face. Shrem shook his head and mouthed:

"Don't you fucking dare!" but all _that_ seemed to do, was make Bones grin wider. He gave Shrem a small wink, then turned to Christine:

"Excellent! Cadet Chapel, since you were the primary medic in the treatment of Cadet P'Grell's injury, I think it's only fitting that you do the final exam."

"Certainly, my pleasure, Sir."

Bones snorted at that, and Christine gave him a puzzled look and a small: "Sir?"

"Ahm, I'll be outside."

"You don't want to observe, Sir?"

Bones was actually turning purple at this stage:

"That's not really my thing… I mean… I have full confidence in your abilities, Cadet Chapel."

"Thank you, Sir." Christine turned to Shrem with a happy little smile, placed her hands on his arms and led him backward towards the small bed.

"Now, just sit down there for me and relax." She told him soothingly. Shrem was caught between staring at her like a rabbit in headlights, and attempting to send a final death glare at the back of Bone's head as it disappeared through the door, bobbing slightly from silent laughter.

If Shrem had thought that last time was bad, he clearly had another thing coming. The pain and large audience had kept thing within the realm of the bearable, but now…

They were all alone in the room, his antenna was pretty much healed, and all the stupid thoughts he'd had about her as of late were doing the conga line in his brain.

_Crap!_

To make things worse, she leaned over him, one knee on the bed beside him to get better access, and her uniform clad breasts were right in front of his face.

_Hmmm, for a skinny thing like… Oh, shut up, Shrem!_

And then things got really bad. He remembered how delicately she'd touched his antenna last time, how her hands had been cool and comforting, but today her fingers were warm, still gentle, but more sure of themselves… completely beyond his control, his eyes rolled back into his head and he moaned quietly.

"I'm so sorry, did that hurt?" She sounded concerned.

"No… just sensitive." He felt like such a fool.

"I'll be careful, I promise."

The new purpose to her actions made her lean a little closer, and now he could feel her breath on his antenna, could smell her clean, soap and water scent while her fingers gave the gentlest of strokes as she simultaneously passed the scanner over his head. He just barely managed to suppress the shudder and low grunt as he slumped forward.

"There, all done." She smiled happily.

_Yea, me too._

"Are you alright? You look… um, bluer than usual. And are you sweating?"

_It's called 'flushed', buttercup, but you don't need to know that._

"The scan indicates that the injury is fully healed, and you've got complete flexibility back… did I do something wrong?" She sounded a little panicked by now.

"No… it's… ah… fine… just very sensitive, like I said, and… ahm… stressful…?"

"Oh… I didn't realise, I'm sorry… You should have told me to stop." She was blushing now and looking up at him through her lashes.

_Don't go there… just don't._

"Don't look like that, it's fine, buttercup." He managed a little smile, figuring his problems were just that: _his_; he was plenty uncomfortable for the two of them, might as well not make things worse.

She gave him a tentative little smile almost like a reward for his selflessness, and asked:

"So, lunch?"

"Sure, sunshine, just give me a minute… oh, and could you send Bones in here?"

"Will do." She smiled a little more brightly and was off. Bones sauntered into the room a mere minute later, the smug little smirk on his face enough to make Shrem contemplate wringing his neck.

"You asked to see me."

"I hate you… I just wanted to state that for the record."

"I think I can live with that… was that all?"

"No, you self-satisfied bastard, that was not all… I need standard issue underwear… and if you so much as think…"

Too late, Bones was already bent double, his rather substantial barky laugh bouncing off the walls of the tiny room and making Shrem wince.

"I swear, if you weren't about to become a father, I'd… uhhh… also, this has to be in violation of the right to individual dignity… it just has to be…"

***

He was poking at his food, shoving what looked like chicken, but could have just as well been diced slug worm, around his plate. He decided embarrassment was one of his very least favourite emotions.

"Are you alright, you've been a little muted lately?" Christine had two bug-faced expressions: one was shocked, where her mouth scrunched up and her nose wrinkled and her entire face turned pink, and the other one was serious concern, where her eyes just went really wide and extra blue, and the lines in her face softened and her lips parted slightly… the second one was downright unfair under the current circumstances.

"Eya said the same, but I'm fine."

"I'm so sorry, Shrem."

_What? How the hell… how would she even know this had anything to do with her… well, sort of… in a round about kind of way… and…_

"I knew you'd mind, I told Gaila as much."

"Huh?"

Now he was just plain confused.

"I said it would hurt you… I'm sorry."

There was a faint glimmer of comprehension.

"You mean Jim and Gaila?"

"Yes, of course." She looked a little uncertain all of a sudden, and then a lot, as Shrem began to laugh.

"That's not it, I'm happy for them… they're cure… don't you think they're cute?"

It was her turn to look confused:

"I clearly still have some work ahead of me as far as that whole 'other people's perspectives' thing goes… Gaila said you would be fine… I just… ah, I don't know."

He couldn't help but smile affectionately at her; she'd slumped forward and was resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. She gave a little grunty laugh, which should have been gross, but was really just a little adorable:

"Well look at us, all single and stuff…"

"Well, you seem to be doing well with that." He observed.

"Yea, mostly."

"Hm?"

"It's just… I'm glad to be rid of him… and I'm glad it's his fault… but being cheated on is a bit of a blow… I was so focused on being relieved, it took a while to realise that he's been playing me for a fool for who knows how long… and I'm not exactly the most confident of women… and, well, it's not nice to be… ahm, so undervalued and replaceable… does that sound crazy?"

"Yea, it does… he probably cheated 'cause he knew you were too good for him… you know… pre-emptive strike." She grinned widely at him and he smiled back.

"I know what you need… you need to get laid… no strings attached."

Christine just groaned.

"Now you sound like Gaila."

"Well, the woman can be wise in the way of the cock."

"Uhhh, Shrem, that's disgusting."

"Oh, don't be such a prude."

"Thanks for reminding me… important point: I _am_ a prude."

"Who says that about themselves?"

"Well, obviously I do." She gave him another grin.

"Tell you what… I really need to get laid… never mind about you… so, I'll make you what's called a wing man… we'll find you someone nice and gentle, and gloriously handsome of course, and…"

"Then you'll snap him up for yourself." Christine finished for him. He gave her a mock scowl.

_This plan was brilliant. He'd find her someone really sweet and considerate, she'd get over that giant dent the even bigger asshole had left in her ego, and he'd be able to regain some much needed perspective on all that monogamy nonsense… only problem was: how would he ever find anyone good enough for Christine… even just for one night?_

"I don't like the sound of that. I thought I told you about the whole thing with me and sex."

"How would you even know about you and sex. Has Robert ever given you any indication that he was particularly talented or gifted as far as his skills were concerned?"

"Just so you know, I'm already squirming on the inside just talking about this, I really don't think…"

"Exactly. You're squirming 'cause we're talking about Robert."

"No, I don't think that's it…"

"Will you have a little faith in me, woman."

"That's not the problem… I just don't have an awful lot of faith in myself… not where sex is concerned… I've gotten a lot better about everything else."

"That's just my point… and aren't you the one who always goes on about a well rounded education?"

"I don't know, Shrem, this seems kind of wrong."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to… but it can't hurt to see what's out there. I think this is one of my more brilliant ideas."

Christine just shrugged and stuffed a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

_Cute._

**A/N: Yea, he's really dumb for a smart person.**

**Fewer words in this chapter, but a lot of dialogue, so it's not really short.**

**Would it be too much to ask for you guys to do a repeat performance on the review miracle from last time (So, OK, 13 isn't a miracle, but it's the most I've ever gotten for this story.)**


	10. Test Flights and Bare Chests

**A/N: Righty ho… so, not quite as quick as the last chapter, but hey… two days is good too, right. Thank you so much for your reviews guys, I sort of knew we wouldn't repeat the miracle of last time, but still… pretty cool.**

**(Is it horrible of me to hope for 85 reviews after this chapter… that would just be so great… hint, hint O.O)**

**As I've stated in some replies, I'm starting to make a bit more use of the M rating, and even though we're nowhere near the hefty stuff, I thought I might as well ease you into things… hope that's OK.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, that's it.**

The first truly glorious Saturday towards the end of February saw a veritable mass exodus of students and faculty members, all with rather large and somewhat mysterious packages in tow. The time for early test flights and equipment checks for the model flyers had arrived.

Christine met Pavel and Lily at 0800 hours in the hanger to finish up the last adjustments before their baby would taste the open air for the first time, and the entire place was already buzzing with activity.

"Tuna and egg mayonnaise… I'm telling you." Lily had an expression of deepest conviction on her face as she flicked a strand of her black and purple fringe out of her eyes.

"Absolutely not! Cucumber, chicken, and green tomato chutney." Christine sounded equally as determined.

"Why am I not surprised… cucumber and green tomatoes is so you."

Shrem, who'd only just arrived, and was now walking past their table, gave both of them a disbelieving look and muttered:

"No way in hell is that thing gonna fly… do I even want to know what you intend to do with all the food?"

"They're discussing the perfect sandvich filling, it has nothing to do vith the flyer… I hope…" Pavel looked a little uncertain.

Lily and Christine just grinned at each other and said with almost perfect synchronicity: "Picnic!"

"Way to have your priorities straight, ladies." Jim called from his spot one table over.

---

They'd all been invited to Admiral Pike's small summer house, just 20 minutes shuttle ride from the academy and with plenty of outdoor space to figure out just how much work their models still needed. Christine feared that in their case the answer to that question was 'a lot'… they might as well have put cucumbers in there somewhere, she didn't think it would make much of a difference.

There were five flyers currently laid out on the grass in front of them, and it pained Christine to say it, but theirs was by far the oddest and least flight-worthy looking one of the bunch.

_Why was it they'd decided to make it look like a bug that made you throw up and bleed from your nose, again?_

There'd been a bit of a surprise as to who the fifth flyer belonged to: Shrem and Aureya owned one, of course, Jim and Gaila the second, Scotty had decided to go it alone, and Lily, Pavel, and Christine owned the fourth; the final flyer, however, was there courtesy of team Pike/Taylor. The two had baffled them all when they'd produced their rather impressive little model, which they'd sort of built on the sly.

They messed around with the flyers for a good two hours, and miracle of miracles, their odd little bug actually _did_ fly, even if in circles and with a distinct tilt to the left.

Their 'moral support team' consisting of Bones, Sulu, and Spock, all being bossed around by a now 8 months pregnant Noyota, had set up their picnic while they'd all been shouting at inanimate objects above their heads and hurling trash talk at each other.

Christine wasn't really very good at trash talk; she was pretty sure calling Gaila a 'ginger nincompoop' was the complete low point of her efforts, considering the other woman laughed so hard, she'd actually had a tiny bit of snot come out her nose.

There was enough food to feed about 80 people, and while Noyota's culinary skills weren't exactly a surprise, the fact that Jim brought along the most divine potato salad she had ever tasted, came as something of a shock. Shrem, however, took the crown hands down with spicy courgette sandwich fingers and a blueberry and buttermilk cake that caused a small fistfight between Bones and Scotty once that last piece was reached. (Bones claimed the piece of cake in the end by kicking the other man in the shin… Christine had never heard such creative cursing, not even from Aureya… she thought it was the accent that truly made it.)

Now everyone was lounging around the two large blankets, with Commander Spock being the only person still in a dignified position, he had his legs folded neatly beneath him, his back straight; Eya had fallen asleep right next to him, and Christine had to smile at the fact that she held her fists balled next to her face like a small child. She herself was leaning back on her elbows, ankles crossed, discussing combat techniques with Hikaru who was to her right, his elbow propped up on the blanket, and his chin in his hand. She had not really had many opportunities to speak with the young man, who, she found out, was himself relatively new to their mad little social circle, so they alternated between topic specific points, such as phaser settings, and personal trivia, such as favourite foods.

"My brother was an excellent fencer, he had a whole set of trophies in his room. I tried once or twice, but I don't think I'm really coordinated enough, those genes must have taken a time out for me." She smiled at the memory of her brother, and wondered when fondness had replaced what had previously only been pain.

"William Chapel, right?"

"You knew him?" There was an excited flutter in her chest.

"Not well, he was in his final year when I started at the academy, but we were both on the fencing team."

"Oh my… I think I remember you; you beat that African fencer, the one who wore all his medals on his competition suit. Will competed in his last fight for the academy that day."

"Wait… you're that gangly blond teenager who wouldn't look at, or speak to anyone at the after-party." His eyes had gone wide, and a small smirk was playing around her lips.

"Sounds like you." Shrem commented from his prone position on her other side, his large form taking up much more space than any one man had a right to; he had his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed, not opening them even as he spoke. As a result, he didn't see the small glare she was sending his way. When she turned back to Sulu, however, she said:

"Sounds like me."

Both men laughed.

"So, if you were a teenager back then… how come you're a first year? How old are you… oh, wait,… is that a rude question already."

Christine laughed at that, shook her head and told him:

"I was involved in academia, as a biochemist, and it's not rude to ask yet… at least I hope not… I was 28 two months ago."

"Oh fuck." Shrem was now bolt upright beside her and glaring.

"What? Did something bite you? I've got anti-septic…"

"No, you're birthday!… You mentioned something at Gaila's party, and I didn't take proper notice, and then you didn't say anything anymore, and…. bloody hell, Chris, you could have said something."

"It's no big deal." The entire place had gone oddly quiet, and when she looked around, she noticed that everyone was now staring at her, even Eya and Miriam, who'd both been dozing. A lump formed in her throat and she could feel herself blush and panic.

"Seriously, it's not… I mean, I would have… it's just… I didn't know you that well yet, and…"

_Great! Perfect timing for the shy thing to kick back in, but having 12 people stare at you like you'd just shot a puppy was a little unnerving._

"Don't be mad… I'm sorry."

"Sheesh, Buttercup, we're not mad… it's just weird, and… well,… a little sad… and sort of hurtful… and embarrassing,… because I was definitely your friend two months ago, even if _you_ didn't think so, _I_ sure did." The expression on Shrem's face made Christine's insides go lumpy. His eyes had gone really wide and sort of dark hazel when they were usually almost gold, and his lower lip was about a millimetre away from a full pout.

"Ahhhm, I…"

"Not to mention you robbed us of an 'old lady' party." Gaila, too, looked rather perturbed.

"A what?" Christine definitely didn't like the sound of that.

Noyota, who was the only one who had not sat up at Shrem's little outburst, presumably since it was just too much hassle, filled her in:

"I got one last year… Gaila, Aureya, and Shrem, aka 'the girls', kidnapped me from our apartment, dressed me in tweed, put a grey wig on me, blindfolded me, and dragged me to the Green Wolf. We had prune juice and vodka, everyone was made up to look old, and we played backgammon… well, we tried, we sort of got too drunk. Apparently 28 is the point of no return, who knew." The rather fond smile on her face made the whole thing seem marginally less gruesome.

"I think I'm sort of glad you guys didn't know…"

"Oh, that was a great party. I didn't have to dress up and was by far the hottest chick there." Miriam gave them a wicked little grin. Christine would have thought it was sort of tasteless to describe 28 as old in front of a woman 40 years off the mark, but she had once again underestimated Captain Taylor's infinite capacity to just roll with the punches.

"You sure were, Mimi, you sure were." Shrem winked at the older woman, then turned back to Christine and announced:

"Leave it with me, I'll think of something… I'll make it up to you."

"Why do I feel like that should worry me?"

***

At some point in the early stages of her discussion with Hikaru at the picnic, Christine had been verbally wrangled into attending the hand-to-hand electives the academy held for its students and staff.

Her very first of those fell on another Saturday, and saw Jim in charge as instructor. It was a little odd to hear people calling him 'Sir'. It had never occurred to Christine how peculiar it was that people regularly called Commander Spock 'Sir', who was, in fact, of lower rank than Jim.

"Right, I'm gonna show you something that I like to call the 'Iowa Sling' today. Pair up."

Christine looked around a little helplessly, before horrible flashbacks to gym class made her duck her head and study her feet.

"Chris? You open?" Aureya gave her a wide grin, then added: "I promise I'll go easy on you."

A little flustered, what with being so far outside of her comfort zone, Christine just muttered the first thing that popped into her head:

"But you're so little… I don't think that's fair." Unfortunately, she'd been too loud and Jim turned to her with a smirk:

"Don't worry, I've seen her take Spock down, and that means something, trust me, I'd know."

Completely without thinking, and most certainly not intending to be funny, Christine stated:

"Yea, but I'm sure he was willing, so I don't think that counts." She slapped a hand over her mouth immediately. There were some rather loud snickers and giggles from the group and Jim rolled his eyes. She mouthed a quick 'sorry' to Aureya, but the younger woman didn't seem too concerned, she just smiled at her.

"You know what, I might as well take this opportunity to demonstrate that size doesn't matter." Jim seemed sort of pleased.

"Yea, you just tell yourself that if it makes you feel better, sweetie."

"And we have a volunteer! Ladies and gentlemen: Cadet P'Grell… Keep your shirt on this time, Shrem, no need to make the ladies swoon."

"Oh admit it, you're just worried you won't be able to control yourself at the sight of my bare chest."

Apparently Christine was on an 'oblivious and dumb' roll, since her mouth asked, rather sincerely:

"Why his shirt? I thought it was his pants."

_Oh for the love of… what is wrong with you? Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!_

When the giggles died back down, Miriam's voice carried across the small outdoor space loud and clear:

"Shirt: swoon, pants: faint."

Ok, so even Christine had to laugh at that one.

Shrem just wore one of those long suffering expressions, the one that said 'what else is new', then shrugged, and nudged Jim.

"So, you gonna sling me, or what?"

Christine had to admit, it was quite impressive watching Jim, who, while not exactly short, could never be called tall, sort off curled Shrem around his waist and then chuck him to the ground. To be fair, Shrem did play possum, so that Jim ranted something about active participation at him, which just caused Shrem to go leaden, and made Jim stumble sideways when he anticipated less resistance and overbalanced.

They were left to practice the move with their partner, and while Christine started out being a somewhat delicate with Eya, she quickly gave up on that, after the other woman had made her collide with the ground a little too enthusiastically one time too many times.

The session ended with some light sparring. Aureya beat the crap out of her… in a friendly sort of way.

They all finished with three laps around the exercise grounds, and by the end of the entire thing Christine was sore, sweaty, and tired.

"So, I'm coming with you to your place. I still have some clothes at Gaila's. We can get cleaned up and changed, and hit the clubs… I call it 'the hunt 101'."

Christine groaned as Shrem draped one massive arm around her shoulder and grinned widely.

"I was sort of hoping you'd forgotten about that… and I'm in some serious pain. Couch? Movie? Pizza? Please?"

"Uh-uh… exercise releases endorphins, testosterone… even in women…and tightens your muscles. In other words: it makes you happy, relaxed, horny, and hot… we're not wasting that, Sunshine."

Christine tried the Bambie look that always seemed to work for Eya, even though she knew she really wasn't fawn material, except perhaps in the 'I have no control over my skinny little legs' department, and Shrem just snorted and shook his head.

"Nope, not working... you're going."

***

Shrem managed to find enough food in her fridge to throw together some sort of baked sausage and bean casserole, and vanished into her bathroom to clean up once the large dish was in the oven. Christine was setting the table, still in her loose grey Starfleet sweat pants and undershirt. She'd take second dibs on the bathroom… she was quicker in there anyway.

She really had hoped that Shrem had forgotten about his little plan of taking her on the prowl, she had a hard time explaining to him that the idea of sex with some random stranger, simply for the sake of attempting to achieve the – for her so elusive – physical pleasure commonly associated with that activity, sounded about as inviting as getting a tooth transplant.

She had tried to communicate her concern, but that had just lead to one of the most embarrassing conversations she'd ever had the misfortune of having with Shrem… and they tended to talk about some weird things on occasion.

It went something a little like this:

_Shrem: So, this whole 'I don't like sex' thing, how serious is that?_

_Christine: Hm?_

_Shrem: I mean; have you ever had an orgasm?_

_Christine: Excuse me?_

_Shrem: I'm just trying to figure out if there's a serious problem, or if it's just the unfortunate situation you were in, Buttercup. What happens when you masturbate?_

_Christine: chrrr kkk rrrr (chokes on sip of water taken at an inopportune moment)_

_Shrem: Are you uncomfortable talking about this sort of thing?_

_Christine: --------------- (hopes her face says: 'who the fuck wouldn't be?'… but then realises that the answer to that question is quite obvious, and includes the man sitting in front of her, the woman across the hall, and quite possibly another five or so people of her closer acquaintance.)_

_Shrem: That's a yes, is it?.... Right, just nod if you've ever cum when…_

_Christine: Enough, Shrem. I know what you're doing, and just so you know, I'm not technically 'frigid'… ugh, what a horrible word. Happy?_

_Shrem: Ecstatic… now, was that so hard? (grins)_

_Christine: I hate you._

She shook her head at the memory and felt her face go warm, still somewhat uncomfortable at the notion of having… reluctantly as it was… talked about that sort of thing with a man. She jumped when her com unit gave a little bleep and announced:

"Incoming, Patterson and Lauren Chapel, New Orleans."

_Ahh, crap… just what she needed._

"Accept call."

"Christine, darling, such great news! We've managed to secure an extra two tickets to the beneficiary gala for New Vulcan… I'm sure Robert was invited, so they might be unnecessary, and since he'll be back by then… but just in case… it is rather a prestigious event… so it is possible that he might only have received one ticket, and it's always good to be prepared."

"Hello, mother. I'm well, and you?"

"Don't be snippy, young lady." Her father remarked from his position right behind her mother, a noticeable frown on his face.

"Father." Christine sounded mostly tired as she gave him a small nod.

Sucking in a deep breath for courage, she steeled her nerves and looked her mother straight in the eyes:

"Thank you, that is very considerate of you, but I think I've already explained to you that I don't associate with Robert anymore, and…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Christine. Some silly little misunderstanding is no reason to end a relationship of nine years. Robert will be back in a little over a month and you two will sort things out and everything will be fine."

"Misunderstanding? Mother, I saw his student aide perform falatio on him, I'd hardly call that a…"

"Christine, language! How can you even use such filthy words in front of your mother?" Her father looked equal parts angry and outraged, and for the life of her Christine could not suppress the small fit of giggles that burst forth. How often had she thought her parents might faint if they could overhear her conversations with her friends… if they considered this to be a filthy word, she'd pay money for them to spend 20 minutes with anyone from Engineering… preferably Eya or Scotty.

"Why are you laughing?... Oh my word, Robert did mention that he thought you were a little hysterical lately, it appears he was right."

Christine attempted to come up with _anything_ to say to that, but was interrupted in her contemplation by her bathroom door sliding open.

"Wow, I'm such an idiot, I actually forgot to get my clothes first… well, Buttercup, look on the bright side, you get to see me topless after all… and I'm ever wearing a towel, Eya never receives that sort of consideration… Oh, hello there."

"---"

"---/---"

"I hope you don't mind, I borrowed some of that lotion stuff you have in there… mmmmm, cinnamon… nice."

"---"

"---/---"

"Something wrong, Sunshine?"

"Why are you naked?????!!!!!" OK, so _now_ she was hysterical.

"I'm not, I'm wearing a towel." Shrem looked at his barely covered crotch, back up at her, and offered a nonchalant:

"See?"

And then, as if nothing was the matter at all, he smiled widely, indicated the com screen and ventured:

"Your parents?... Hi." He gave them a little wave.

Lauren Chapel looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head, and Patterson was studying something to his left, neither one returned the greeting.

"OK, then… bad timing?... Ahm, I'll just be over at Gaila's… get me when you're done… Oh, and the casserole should be ready in about 20." Still completely oblivious, he walked up to her, placed a kiss on top of her head, and waltzed to the door, calling a somewhat muted;

"nice meeting you" over his shoulder.

When the door slid closed behind him, Christine turned back to the screen in slow motion, her eyes squeezed partially shut and her jaw clenched.

"Ahm… that was my best friend… Shrem P'Grell… he's in engineering."

_Yup, that cleared up __**everything**__._

She sort of expected someone to start screaming at her any minute now, she expected her mother to cry and wail, her father to shout, instead, when she finally opened her eyes fully again to focus on her parents, she was just in time to watch her mother keel over sideways. Her father lunged after her, barely managing to grab her arm, and scowled at Christine:

"This… you… not over!!!!!!... end call!" Her screen went transparent again.

Her mind was a bit hazy, so her first few thoughts were really a little unfocused: She briefly contemplated that Miriam was wrong… apparently 'shirt: faint' was an option too. Then she wondered how someone looked like a blue teddy bear one moment and then looked… ahm, well… entirely different the next… there was nothing soft and cuddly about Shrem in a towel. Sure, she'd been aware of the fact that he had really broad shoulders, and had assumed that he was physically fit, but…. It certainly explain why the two girls in her med lab class who'd been with him still blushed every time they saw him, and…

_Ahhh… enough!... Inappropriate! Focus! Right: set table, have shower, get Shrem._

She did just that, and even took the casserole out of the oven before she went over to Gaila's and retrieved a fully dressed and somewhat sheepish looking Shrem.

"Ahm, Buttercup? Jim just explained that your parents might have gotten the wrong idea… so,… you know… I'm sorry. I can call them and explain, if you want."

"No, I think they've seen quite enough of you for one day. No need to make my father pass out too."

"Huh?"

"You made my mother faint."

"Wow, someone's not getting any."

"Shrem!"

"Sorry… just a joke."

"Not funny… ugh."

"Talking of getting some, here." Shrem shoved a black piece of fabric at her.

"What…"

"You're not going like that." He indicated the navy blue button down shirt she'd put on over a pair of dark trousers.

"What's wrong with it?" He just raised an eyebrow and twitched an antenna. She let out a small gasp as she unfolded the item of clothing he'd handed her. It was a black top, simple but with a low neckline and slits at both sides.

"I'm not wearing that… also, if that's Gaila's, there's no way I'd fill it… up here, I mean." She frowned at her chest a little.

"She said it's too small for her… and you've got nice little puppies… not exactly a hand full, but that says more about my hands than your boobs."

"Shrem,… how did you even come up with the hand to chest …?"

"I've made estimates."

"Wow… thanks?"

"Sure… food, change, go… come on."

Christine sighed in exasperation, but concluded that it would probably be pointless to struggle. She'd go along, fail miserably at the whole endeavour and be excused from any further attempts.

_Good plan._

**A/N: 85… maybe… please?**


	11. Time for Some Truths

**A/N: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! *Dances around like a total muppet* You guys just seriously rock… 87!!!!!!! Reviews. I know I've said it before, and I know it's pathetic, but I love you. Thank you sooooo much.**

**OK, so this chapter is a little less on the funny side, and a little more on the emotional one… hope that's alright.**

_Worst plan ever!_

His 'monogamy problem' didn't seem to be getting any better, it was actually getting worse.

He'd managed to administer two drinks to Christine in short order, to make her loosen up, since she'd spent the first forty minutes at the club staring at her boots… miracle of miracles, he'd somehow been able to convince her to wear heels. He figured it wasn't unethical to get a girl tipsy if you weren't trying to get her into bed yourself, and they'd been drunk together plenty of times.

Things had started out rather well. He'd spotted an enticing looking brunette at the bar, who'd kept smiling at him, a redhead over on the dance floor, who'd actually waved, and Dave, the bartender, had winked at him, clearly interested in seconds… so far, so good.

He wasn't going to focus on himself, though, before he hadn't found someone Christine could at least flirt with. In her case, Shem concluded, baby steps were the way to go.

"I should probably have asked this before, but do you have a type?" He shouted over the loud music.

"Huh?"

"A type… Short? Tall? Young? Old? Blond? Dark? Green?... Blue?" He winked at the last word.

"I don't really know."

"Cool… Indiscriminate, just like me."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Boy though… right? Or are you up for some experimenting?" He couldn't help but grin at her.

"Absolutely boy."

"Fine… it was a nice mental image while it lasted."

She shook her head but couldn't disguise the amused little smile he'd managed to bring to her lips. She wore gloss, not lipstick, he noticed; as a matter of fact, all her make-up was decidedly on the faint side… he sort of like that on her. Refocusing his attention towards finding a male of the heterosexual persuasion, who looked like he might be nice on a short-term basis, Shrem took note of four possible candidates. He figured it would be best not to inform Christine of the game plan in advance, she'd only freak out and get more nervous than she already was. Grabbing her hand, he made his way towards the opposite end of the bar, stumbling intentionally to bump into her and launch her into prospective fuck buddy number one. She did a great job of blushing and being all adorably flustered, tucking her hair behind both ears and looking so genuine and concerned.

Well, obviously she was. She'd dumped her drink on the poor guy and being efficient and secretly sweet the way she was, she'd probably insist on paying his cleaning bill or something.

Shrem had convinced her to wear her hair down, he'd never seen it that way before, he'd imagine what it would look like, of course, but his imagination really had very little on reality. 'Convinced', perhaps was the wrong word; she'd returned from changing in her bathroom wearing Gaila's top and the boots, but had still sported her usual braided granny knot. They'd argued about her hair for about 10 minutes, until Shrem had had enough, had spun her around, and had simply taken out all the little clips, and had teased her hair free.

In hindsight, that had been mistake number one.

Running your fingers through the long, wavy, birch wood coloured strands of hair that are attached to the women you might possibly be developing _peculiar_ feelings for, really should have struck him as a step in the wrong direction. Never mind the fact that he'd tried very hard not to enter the realm of wishful thinking when attempting to come up with a plausible explanation of why exactly she was holding so still, when only moments before, she'd swatted his hand away and told him to stop treating her like a dress up doll. Turning her back around and noticing for the first time just how low that little black top plunged, and how soft her expression was, now that all that lovely hair was framing her face, hadn't helped at all, either.

He moved further down the bar, wriggling his eyebrows when Chris' gaze first searched for, and then found him. She blushed again, then looked a little angry, but was momentarily distracted by prospect number one who leaned forward to say something in the direction of her breasts.

_Oh hell no!_

Shrem was right by her side again, grabbed her arm and told 'goggle eyes':

"Sheesh, she's always such a klutz, sorry about that."

The 'eye' threw dirty looks at him as he pulled on Christine's arm, dragging her away; he was just barely able to hear the words 'blue freak'.

_OK, so he'd gotten that one wrong._

"What?" Christine sounded more curious than pissed.

"He was talking at the puppies." Shrem explained over the music.

"You made me wear this thing." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking a little disconcerted.

He leaned closer, not wanting to have to shout the whole explanation at her; he caught a distinct note of cinnamon, smelling oddly sweeter on her than it did on him, and a strange little shiver ran through him at the thought that both their bodies were covered in the same scent.

"It's rude… you check out the goods, sure… that's only natural, but then you talk to the face… you have to trust her lumps'll still be there later… talking to a girl's cleavage reeks of desperation, and trust me, you don't want desperate… why? Did you actually like him?"

Christine gave him a look that seemed to be a mixture of incredulous disgust and slightly panicked confusion.

"Let me get this right…" She, too, was leaning into him, and he could feel her warm breath on the side of his face, causing yet another one of those odd little shivers to race across his chest and down his spine. "Firstly… you shoved me at this guy on purpose… what is wrong with you? Secondly… you've actually got all your actions mapped out like that? Really? Isn't that… I don't know… creepy?... And Finally, I said 'sorry', he said 'it's OK', then he asked me my name… that's as far as the conversation went… and you ask me if I _liked_ him?" She had both eyebrows raised, her arms now pressed more tightly to her torso.

"Ahhhm…yes?"

"And furthermore, stop referring to my breasts by names such as 'lumps'… they're not a skin condition."

He gave her a huge grin at this, and just told her: "You're cute when you're pissed… right, lets try this again… how about the blond over beside the dance floor… what do you think?"

She rolled her eyes and glared at him:

"What do I think of what?... and don't ask me if I _like_ him… he's twelve feet away and I've never met him… and I don't have a drink to spill."

He smiled, shook his head, and just led her over to the guy.

"Hi there." He flicked a strand of his shoulder length hair, smiled at the confused looking man, and fluttered his lashes a bit.

"My friend and I were just arguing over whose team you're playing for, hers or mine?" He could literally sense Christine going rigid with mortification behind him, the young man looked first flustered, then outraged:

"I'm not gay!"

_OK, so that one could do with a bit more charm and possibly tact… and a lot less homophobia… is it so hard to just act flattered and say 'no thank you, but your friend can ask me to play any day."?_

"Ach, never mind." He just grabbed Chris' hand again and dragged her back to the bar… time for another drink.

He dismissed the other two options out of hand because… well, just _because_,… and the evening took a distinct turn for the better, until he went to the restroom, only to find some tall, dark-haired guy leaning into Christine's personal space, and smiling like she was a strawberry and cream sandwich. He saw her handing something back to him, grinning like a fool, and then proceed to talk to him as if that sort of thing had never been a problem for her. He was decidedly unhappy with the constricting feeling in his chest, and the fact that he had conveniently forgotten that this was the whole point of the evening; so, scraping the last of his resolve off the floor, he decided to give the two some space, and headed for the other end of the bar, where he got something undiluted to drink.

Tall/Dark/and Smiling had just said something else to make Chris laugh, causing Shrem to wince just a little bit, when a smallish hand landed on his arm.

"I've been watching you all evening, and can't figure out what you are trying to do…. get your friend laid, or rip off the head of any guy who tries to get into her pants… I'm fascinated." The redhead who'd waved at him at the beginning of the evening had found him. He decided 'Oh, what the hell" and gave her his best winning smile.

"A little bit of both… I'm afraid. My friend's just out of a nasty and overly long relationship, and I sort of thought… oh well." He shrugged and smiled again.

Shrem was good with women,… and men, but there was one important thing about his actions around them… as much as Christine might think part of his game plan was creepy, Shrem didn't lie. He'd never promised things he had no intention of delivering, and if he was out to have a good time and nothing else, the girl or guy he was intending to have it with, knew all about that.

"That's very sweet of you."

"I'm glad you think so, to be honest, I suspect she's only here to humour me, but at least she seems to be getting into the swing of things now."

"Sure does… so, how about you? Are you only here in an observational capacity?"

He thought a verbal response was unnecessary, so he ducked down and leaned forward to brush his lips over the redhead's neck; she rewarded him with a low moan.

_Piece of cake._

Before he could get any further, move things to a quiet dark corner, Smiley marched off, throwing a cheerful wave at Christine, who waved back, looking happy as anything, and left the bar.

_What the fuck?_

The redhead was now trying to get at his lips, but Shrem concluded that it was extremely rude not to pay a pretty girl the sort of attention she deserved, so he informed her of as much, apologised, gave her a small smile and a 'maybe next time', and headed back towards Christine. The redhead called a convinced 'Don't sweat it, friends come first' after him, and he wondered why they couldn't have found Chris someone that nice.

"There you are, I was about to send out a search party?" Christine smiled at him with an expression of someone who was having a genuinely good time, somehow this really bothered Shrem.

"What happened to tall-dark-and-handsome?"

"You mean Martin?" Christine looked momentarily surprised, and then started to laugh, hiccupping and leaning her forehead on the arm she had draped on the bar.

"OK, then… you gonna let me in on the joke?"

"Sure… just… give… me…" And off she went again. Finally, about two minutes later, she took a deep breath and indicated a table against the far corner, where at least 15 rather inebriated men and women looked as if they'd just started to sing.

"That's the research team of med lab 24, Martin's one of them, he just managed to sneak away, since he really wanted to get home… they are sort of celebrating because of him… his wife Susan's just had their first child… a boy… cute as a button… Martin showed me a picture. Anyways, I'd say he's back with the two of them by now…. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but if you were hoping that Martin was going to provide me with… ahm…'some action'… was it?…. then, sorry, not gonna happen."

Shrem really didn't want to admit just how relieved he was at that moment; just to cover it up, he put his hands on his hips and gave her a high-pitched 'huh'.

"I leave you alone for two minutes and you go off to chat with friends… really Buttercup, you suck at 'the prowl'."

"Yup… and may I just say: ''Told you so.'" She smiled at him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, her face all flushed and happy, and Shrem's heart did a little jig. He leaned forward, grasped a small strand of her hair, playing with it by twisting it around his index finger, moved just a little closer, and placed a careful kiss on her forehead.

"You're all kinds of great, Buttercup… 'you know that?"

She was looking up at him, her eyes wide with surprise, her mouth open just a little bit, and licked her lips subconsciously; Shrem nearly groaned. She looked as if she was about to say something, then seemed to think better of it and…

"Hey guys!"

They both jumped.

"Hikaru… hey!" Chris got off her stool and hugged the young man, who looked just a little startled by the gesture.

"Ahm… hey to you too… you're… unusually friendly today…"

"I'm a bit drunk." She informed him helpfully, smiling widely.

"Ah… I see… booze, huh?… that's good to know." And then he actually had the gall to wink at her, and she giggled. Shrem had to fight the urge to huff in indignation.

"Can I get you two a drink?" Shrem contemplated answering in the negative, searching frantically for a good reason, but before he could think of anything, Chris had already announced "Absolutely!" while practically beaming at the pilot.

_Fan-fucking-tastic!_

When Sulu had inquired about their choice of drinks, had procured the same from the bar, and settled in next to Chris, he asked:

"So, what are you two up to…? I'm not crashing a date, am I?"

"Goodness no, Shrem's just trying to get me laid."

Sulu promptly choked on his drink, turned red, then purple, and finally red again.

"Ahhhhmmm… and…. How's that working out?" His voice was a little strained.

"Oh, it isn't." Christine sounded oddly pleased.

"Right… so… um…" Sulu just looked from one to the other, settling on Shrem in the end, and gave him a look that clearly said:

"What the fuck, dude?"

Shrem just shrugged and gave a non-committal grunt.

The evening was pleasant enough after that, at least for Christine. Shrem was sitting on needles, as an increasingly tipsy Sulu got a little braver and flirted shamelessly with a by now drunk Christine. She was mostly oblivious to what she was doing, but that didn't mean Shrem didn't notice… or mind.

_Damn._

They stayed until well past 0200 hours, and when they finally got ready to leave, Chris was decidedly unstable on her feet. She hugged Sulu again, and this time, he hugged back rather enthusiastically. Shrem thumped him on the back a little too hard in what was, for him, an unusually masculine gesture. Sulu just smiled, shook his head, and took off towards the shuttle bus.

Shrem and Christine headed in the direction of staff accommodation, and after Chris stumbled over her own feet for the third time, muttering something along the lines of "darn heels… too tall as it is,… and bloody impossible to walk in….", he crouched down in front of her.

"What?"

"Piggy back… I'm pretty used to carting drunk girls home."

"'Sounds immoral."

"It isn't… it's mostly Eya and Gaila… Nyo once or twice… come on, up you get."

He expected an argument, but she simply climbed on his back and wrapped her long arms around his shoulders; he hooked his hands under her knees and adjusted her, which made her giggle. She buried her face in the side of his neck and he could feel her inhale deeply.

"Hmmmm, you smell lovely."

_So not helping._

"Will used to always carry me like this when I was little… he didn't feel this nice though…" She sounded thoughtful, and Shem closed his eyes just for a moment, appreciating the closeness of her much warmer body as it was pressed against him.

When he finally got her to her apartment, he had to lean her against the wall next to her door, and she smiled up at him, a strand of her hair falling into her face, and asked:

"So… did I fail miserably?" She sounded as if she wanted him to say 'yes'.

"Why did you come?" He looked serious as he peered down at her.

"You made me… remember?"

"Yea, but you let me… ahm… make you."

She shrugged and smiled wider:

"It seems to be important to you… can't say that I get it, but hey… if it makes you happy… I wasn't gonna sleep with anyone, but I thought I might as well play along… you seemed quite determined."

_Ah crap… and no, it didn't make him happy, and he wasn't determined… he was an idiot… and really confused._

"You have to stop trying to please other people… and start pleasing yourself."

She snorted and grinned at him:

"That sounds dirty."

"Oh, Buttercup…"

He had no idea what he wanted to say, so he just went with:

"And you didn't fail… you were pretty good with Sulu, you know."

"Really?"

"Yea, you were flirting like a champ."

"I was?... huh… that's weird… Well, maybe that's cause we're friends… Can we just say I failed, though?… 'Cause I don't want to do this again… I much prefer just hanging out with you."

Shrem could tell that she wasn't really aware of what she'd just said, he clenched his jaw, willing himself not to reach out for her and do something stupid. He entered the access code, and as her door slid open, she pushed herself off the wall, wrapped her arms around him, and placed a kiss on his neck, just where her head fitted neatly beneath his own.

"Good night… and thank you… You're the best friend I've ever had, 'you know that?" She disentangled herself, and, not waiting for an answer, made a beeline for her bed. He saw her fall face first onto it before her door slid closed.

He exhaled heavily, then rested his forehead on the cold, smooth surface in front of him, suppressing the compulsion to whack it a couple of times with his head.

"I am so royally screwed." He told the grey laminate.

***

"Remember that question I asked you… about the thing… and well, you know?" Aureya just looked at him as if he'd just clucked like a chicken, then raised one eyebrow in a perfect imitation of her mate and said:

"Yea, sure."

She turned away from him and focused her attention on the small access panel in front of her, presumably giving him a chance to form non-nonsensical sentences.

Shrem and Aureya thought it was a little unfair that they got to help Scotty with the maintenance of the Enterprise's engine room, after all, no other third years were allowed there without strict supervision. The whole thing was a blatant display of favouritism… and _totally awesome_. (Gaila's words, not his… or Eya's)

"I mean the thing about monogamy." He felt completely foolish.

"You're still thinking about that?"

"Ngh."

_Wow, eloquent!_

"Just so I know, do you have someone specific in mind?" The overly nonchalant tone of her voice made him a little suspicious.

"Maybe?"

"Ahh… and what does Christine think?" She didn't hide that smirk very well.

"Oh, for fuck's sake… am I that obvious…"

"Yea… you _both_ kind of are."

"Huh?"

"You do this 'oh, the sun has just appeared' sort of thing whenever the other one walks into a room… It's nauseating… and really cute."

"This isn't funny, Eya… 'cute' isn't… ah damn it… You know me,… I don't even remember how many people I've slept with… my parents are going to find me two women and a man I'm supposed to marry at some point, and then… ah, I don't know…"

"I don't see how the first point is relevant… and the second really isn't… they are not going to force you to do anything… they might be a little confused and disappointed if you chose to opt for an 'alternative lifestyle', but I doubt they'd do anything drastic."

"See… that's just it… 'lifestyle'… this is a big deal, and I don't understand why. I love Gaila and Jim, and we had fun… but I never got all weird, and angry, and possessive, and confused… and a bunch of other unpleasant things… this isn't natural…" He ran his hand through his hair and gave a rather helpless huff.

"Well, I don't know about that… look at Gaila… monogamy isn't 'natural' for her either, but for some odd reason she's decided that it's appropriate in her situation… I have no idea why… but there you go."

"That brings me back to my original question… do you think it's better to just be with one person?"

"No… I don't… I think you have to figure out what you want, what works for you… there's no way the answer is the same for every body. It happens to make me happy, but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone."

"Crap… I was hoping this would be easier."

"I'm sorry to state the obvious here, but what exactly is the problem?… You strike me as a little clueless, Blue, but not as if you're that confused about your feelings." Aureya gave him an encouraging smile, and it only just occurred to him that she'd been using her serious tone and vocabulary for the entire conversation so far, not a single swear word in sight.

"Have you _met_ Christine? I'm not sure how to say this, but she's not exactly emotionally and sexually 'robust'… and I'm…well…_me_. I wouldn't want to do anything wrong and hurt her… either emotionally or physically, and I'm not sure if I could avoid that, and…"

"OK, so ignoring the physical for the moment… when you talk about the emotional bit, what do you mean?… Do you think you won't be able to keep your hands off other people, or…"

"No!... Ah crap!"

"What?"

"I didn't even realise until you asked me… Great!... I honestly don't think that would be a problem… and, well, that's just freaky."

Aureya just laughed at him and shook her head.

"Seriously though… she's sort of delicate, and insecure, and not aware of herself at all… I mean, the woman thinks she cold for fuck's sake…"

"Yea, that one's a little weird… Did I tell you I had to go to the med lab when I sliced my hand open with a photon welder? She was the one putting me back together again, and it was like this light was switched on inside her. She almost makes you want to curl up into a ball, close your eyes, and purr."

"Amongst other things."

Aureya grinned, but continued unperturbed:

"It's like she allows herself to be that way only when she's working… and sometimes when she's around you… it's something else…"

"You're telling me? It's driving me crazy… She makes me want to hug her and keep her safe one minute, and the next I want to fuck her senseless and… ah, crap, now I'm being crude…"

"Uhm… you are acquainted with my mate Spock, right? Tall, dark, handsome, serious… has a rather strong propensity for just bending me over and… ."

"Ugh."

Aureya laughed again.

"Something else is bothering you."

"I don't think I am what she needs… I mean, she's conservative and kind of repressed, and I'm sure her social circle wouldn't be too pleased if…"

"Whoa… now you're talking bollocks… you might be exactly what she needs, what with her being the way she is; and in case you've forgotten, we're her social circle now."

"And what if I hurt her,… in the other way, I mean… she's only been with one guy and…"

"Do you have a history of doing unpleasant things to women?"

"No… but… I don't know if she wouldn't make me go a little demented and…"

"So, if she asked you to stop, you think you wouldn't?" Aureya gave him a look that told him she knew his answer already.

"Of course I'd stop."

"Well, then…"

"All of this is completely theoretical… of course…" He suddenly felt very aware of the fact that they'd just talked as if some sort of relationship with Christine was a forgone conclusion.

"How so?"

"She might not like me."

Aureya threw him a look as if to say 'don't be daft'.

"Well, OK… she likes me… but I don't know if she likes me that way… I think she might, but…"

"Shrem, stop being stupid…"

"That's easy for you to say… So, what do I do now?"

"You make your move?"

"Balls, I was sort of worried you'd say that."

**A/N: OK, I'll aim really high this time, and ask for 105… am I being delusional? Probably... so anything with three digits would be great.**


	12. Dates, Drag, and Alexander James

**A/N: OK, so this might be a little bitty… but I just had a few smaller scenes to get through. I was so impressed with the number of reviews I got… I knew I asked for too many, but you guys just pulled through… 102 (one didn't register for one odd reason)… I'm speechless. I won't ask for a number this time, simply because I trust you, and know you'll let me know what you think.**

**A special thank you to Sabriel… who reviewed twice, just for the hell of it… I hurried up to post this today so I could wish you a happy Paddy's Day. (My profile currently says Austria, cause I'm visiting my mum who lives there, but hey, I'm home in spirit… drink a Guinness for me if you're old enough, all they've got here is lager.)**

**A specially hello to fernsfairy as well… I can't wait for that picture!**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs… that's it.**

Christine's head didn't feel quite as bad as she'd expected the following morning, and she concluded that part of that giddy intoxication she'd experienced the night before, had simply been as a result of the company, and of having fun.

She'd never actually been out to a club like that before; getting engaged at the age of 19 had severely limited her social life, particularly since the man she'd been engage to considers sucking up to members of a grant giving committee at a sherry evening to be a night out. She'd always dressed older for Robert, both in order not to draw attention to their age difference, as well as to be taken seriously by his colleagues; so, the fact that she could draw the sort of glances she had received the night before, came as a complete surprise to her. She'd been so accustomed to being the gangly, frumpy lab rat, that even suggestive leers had to somehow count as a compliment. She still had no intention of going along with Shrem's plan, but she was strangely grateful for the fact that he somehow always gave her the impression that she was just as desirable as any other woman; that too, was a bit of a novelty.

So, in her brave new world as a semi-attractive single woman, she decided to dress ridiculously casually, it was Sunday after all, picked grey capri sweat pants and a pale blue tank, left her hair down, and made her way to Gaila's… she was pretty sure there was no dice, but she always lived in hope of decent breakfast. (Jim's pancakes were a thing of beauty)

In answer to her bleep, she received a somewhat muffled:

"Mmhhhuuu?"

_Oh well, shouting through the door it was, so._

"Gaila, 'you decent?"

"No."

"You naked?"

"Yes."

"'Jim naked?"

"Of course."

"Later."

"Twenty minutes…" Jim's voice called before she could get back to her own door; then there was some frantic whispering and giggling before he amended:

"Make that thirty… and bring coffee, we're out."

"Sure… see you then."

"Wait!" Gaila's voice called through the door, which, a mere minute later, slid open just a slit, revealing Gaila's face, flushed a light grey in colour.

"Ooooo, hair pretty." She announced, before apparently refocusing on what she'd meant to say a moment earlier:

"So, did you get lucky?"

Christine just rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning back towards her quarters, she called out:

"See you in half an hour."

She suspected that six months ago she would have been outraged at the idea of sitting around her apartment, waiting for her friends to finish having sex, so she could walk over there and have breakfast and a chat, but then again, it had been an eventful six months, and besides, if she wasn't willing to do that sort of thing, she'd never get to talk to Gaila.

---

She'd barely made it back to her apartment, when her com unit announced:

"Incoming call, Hikaru Sulu."

A little surprised, Christine called:

"On screen."

"'Morning…"

"Good morning."

_Now what?_

They sort of stared at each other for a moment, before Sulu took a deep breath, looked at his hands for a second, and then ventured:

"So… ahm, listen… I got the impression that,… while you obviously appreciate the effort Shrem is making… that… ehm… you don't really agree with… well, you know… and, so, I was wondering, if you'd perhaps like to go on a date with me… to keep him off your back, and to… I don't know… chat?... A friendly date… of course."

Christine was momentarily stunned; she was sure she was giving him one of her bug faces, and since she was sort of in a hurry to say something, she just jumped on the first sentence that popped into her head:

"What exactly constitutes a _friendly_ date?"

"… I have no idea."

They looked at each other again, and then both burst out laughing.

"Sure, Hikaru, I'd love to." Christine told him when they'd both composed themselves again.

"Cool… and sorry for jumping the gun like that… I just thought I'd ask before Shrem cops on."

"Cops on to what?"

"You don't know?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind… his loss."

"Are you intentionally being cryptic?"

"Ahm… yes?"

"---"

"So, next Friday OK?"

"Sure."

"Cool, have a nice Sunday. Any plans?"

"Yup, I'm bringing post-coital coffee to my neighbours… in exchange for pancakes."

"Ahm….?"

"Don't ask."

***

She didn't see Shrem until Tuesday, when he came over for the promised movie and pizza make up evening. He seemed distracted and fidgety, which was rather unlike him, and looked a little odd on a person Christine had always considered to be laid back to a fault.

"Are you OK? You're… I don't know… off today."

"Huh?"

He was sitting on the couch while she was placing two glasses on her coffee table. Just out of habit… or possibly impulse, she placed her hand on his forehead, and his eyes went wide as he looked up at her; it made him seem vulnerable somehow.

"I just realised that this is totally pointless… I can't remember what your proper temperature should be, and I certainly won't get it like this." She smiled sheepishly as he gave her a non-committal little grunt. Oddly enough, she hadn't taken her hand away yet.

"I'm not sick." He assured her, and she finally broke contact and marched into the kitchen with more determination than her lack of anything to do there would warrant.

"And it's 25 degrees Celsius."

"Oh… right."

"So… did you have a good time on Saturday?" He sounded so uncertain, that Christine felt the need to reassure him:

"Absolutely; I had fun."

"Great… so, ahm… I though Friday we could…"

"Oh, I can't Friday… I have a date."

"…. A what?"

"A date." Christine grinned at him, then looked up through her lashes all the way from her kitchen, and asked with fake pleading in her voice:

"Tell me you're proud."

"---"

"What?"

"Nothing… that's… ahm… _great._"

"I know… it's a _friendly_ date, too." She informed him helpfully.

"What the bogey is that supposed to mean?"

Christine just shrugged and laughed.

"So… who with? Please tell me it's not that married guy who just had a kid… I mean, I like that whole forbidden fruit as much as the next guy or girl, but…"

"Don't be silly… I'm going out with Hikaru… isn't that nice?"

"_Brilliant._" Shrem's expression didn't match his words, however, and Christine could hear him mutter something under his breath that she was pretty sure ended in '…tard'.

"You're still being odd… are you sure you're feeling alright? I have a medical scanner in the bathroom, and…"

"I'm fine, Buttercup, I promise. Just come here and let's start the movie, the pizza'll be here in a bit." He patted the spot on the couch beside him, and Christine just sighed, smiled, and let herself fall into the cushion. She gave Shrem a playful shove, and joked:

"Hey… you never know; I might get some action after all."

"Ngh… I mean… _cool_."

***

Their date was nice. They had dinner in a lovely little restaurant, talked about Will a lot, and Hikaru told her about the Narada incident first hand… she found she was finally ready to hear it. She cried a little, and he tried to change the subject, but Christine just shook her head and thanked him… it was all a bit strange, and a little sad, and very _friendly_.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" He looked uncertain.

"Of course, Hikaru."

"Did you agree to go out with me because I knew your brother?"

"What? No!... I mean… No!... maybe?… I'm sorry…"

"It's OK,… really, it is… I should never have said that thing about the friendly date… I jinxed it… and I sort of knew there was someone else for you, anyways."

"---"

She simple raised both eyebrows, giving him a look that she hoped communicated the thought 'what the hell are you talking about?'.

"You seriously expect me to believe that you don't know."

"Ahm…"

Suddenly an odd sense of dread came over Christine:

"If you're implying that I have some lingering emotional attachment to my ex-fiancé, I can tell you right now, that the only time I waste thinking about him, is when I indulge in silly little revenge fantasies… and even though I suppose that that indicates some sort of residual resentment…"

Hikaru just plain laughed at her.

"Wow… you get wordsy when you're annoyed… that's kind of endearing… in a _friendly_ kind of way." The last line indicated to Christine that he thought she was just a tad scary too, and given the circumstances she huffed, but then smiled:

"Sorry, I got carried away there… Now, will you be so kind and tell me what it is you're trying to tell me… or trying not to tell me."

"I really don't think it's my place… but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Wow, you get irritating when you're obtuse."

That just made him laugh again.

***

She was kidnapped the following morning… she was just on her way to grab some fresh croissants.

_Damn Gaila and her acting skills!_

"_We're completely out of groceries…no breakfast to speak of, would you mind grabbing something?... Jim and I'll make the coffee." _

_She should have been suspicious there and then… since when did Gaila know how to use the plunger, and how many people does it take to make coffee, anyways?… grrrr!_

She saw a flash of pale green, before her vision went completely black, felt a multitude of hands grab and lift her, and heard Miriam's voice announce:

"No, not that right… the other right."

_Oh great… birthday party._

There was a lot of shoving her around and unintentional groping, some muttered curses (most definitely Eya), and a few exclamations to the effect of 'how bloody tall can one woman be?" (Lily, that one), and when her blindfold was finally removed, there was soft lighting and ethereal music.

Squinting a little, Christine saw Gaila, Aureya, Lily, Noyota, and Miriam, all grinning at her as they stood around her. Eya indicated their surrounding and stated rather smugly:

"Spa day… Shrem is pissed 'cause he wasn't allowed to come, but we needed at least two engineers for rigging up your place… and I got to come because of the theme."

_Rigging up?... theme?_

"I'm confused."

"That's OK, you're old."

Miriam slapped Eya's behind for that one.

"You're not gonna dress me up in granny clothes?"

"Nope… we went with something a little different." Lily looked as if she was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

_Oh joy._

As it turned out, Christine really took to the experience… there was something incredibly decadent in wasting time on something so inconsequential as a Bejoran mineral body scrub.

Seeing all her female friends naked was a little weird, though… well, they didn't seem to mind, and why would they, none of them had anything to hide, and Christine caught herself thinking: "Go Miriam… good for you… I just hope I look like that when I'm 68."

Noyota had to sit out half of the treatments, since she was two weeks away from her baby boy's due date, and anything that involved wrapping her body in something warm was a little uncomfortable for her.

By the time they got their hair and nails done, Christine thought all her bones had turned to jelly, and she was about ready to just slide off her chair and form a rather happy little puddle on the floor.

When she was asked to pick nail polish, she immediately went for a pretty pale blue, and Eya laughed and said:

"Figures."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

_OK… sure… whatever…_

'Turned out, Gaila had raided Christine's closet… and on being completely under-whelmed with what she'd found there, had liberally improvised with things from her own. Christine had to hand it to her though, her friend knew her well enough not to choose any of her outlandishly revealing outfits for her, and had picked a lovely dark blue top, and a pair of Christine's own trousers… plus the boots she'd worn on her first 'prowl'.

She was glad to be informed that they wouldn't blindfold her for the way back… after all, she knew exactly where they were going, she was just a little worried about what she'd find once they got there.

They exited the turbo lift at precisely 1900 hours, and even from this distance, Christine could see that there was something wrong with the hallway… well, 'wrong' was perhaps not exactly the right word… there simply was a tent in it.

More precisely, a type of marquis had been stretched between Gaila's and her door, and moderately loud music was clearly audible from both quarters.

"I'll just run ahead and rally the troops." Aureya announced, as she took off towards the flap like door of the marquis.

"Ahm…?" Was the extent of Christine's comment.

Gaila just grabbed her hand and dragged her forward, through the flap, and to the left into the other woman's living room.

She wasn't the only one to stop dead once they got there, Miriam actually walked into Lily, then looked at the assembled men plus Eya, and let out a rather breathy "oh my word".

Christine's eyes went wide, and she almost choked on her own spit, as she fought her laughter… she gave up fairly quickly, and had a hard time trying not to sink to the floor and quite literally roll around there. Aureya had tears in her eyes, and Christine concluded she had gotten her fit out of the way early, Gaila was actually bent double and holding on to the door, and Lily and Miriam were leaning into each other, both giggling uncontrollably, and Noyota had gone three shades darker and was holding her bump, obviously trying very hard not to do anything strenuous.

The banners hung up over Gaila's couches gave Christine a pretty good idea what kind of 'theme' Aureya and Lily had been talking about: One of them read "Woman… Man… Fish… Bicycle… You Know The One" and the other one said: "Men, can't live with them… pass the Belgian chocolates."

Christine finally managed to regain a small bit of composure, but still held her hands over her mouth, as she took the time to study each of the guys in turn. Jim, Shrem, Pavel, and Hikaru were the only ones who'd gone for full out drag… the latter two even looked sort of passable, and Christine could hear Lily ask her boyfriend, as she made her way over to him and hugged him:

"Is it creepy that I'm a little turned on right now?"

"Wery." Chekov sounded unimpressed.

Bones and Scotty had made a valiant attempt, but still looked very much like men… or just exceptionally ugly women.

Admiral Pike and Commander Spock were by far the least impressive, the first of the two only sported lipstick and a flowery scarf, and the latter was practically without any form of costume, apart from the fact that someone had tied a small pink ribbon into the left part of his fringe. Christine had a fairly good idea who that someone might have been.

"Guys… I can't believe you'd do this for me." She was now fighting tears, some of them no longer from laughter:

"This is just so sweet… and weird… and all kinds of wrong." She'd been genuine, but she still got a good few laughs for that.

"Well, I give you one guess whose idea this was." Aureya told her from beside Spock. Christine just shook her head, walked up to Shrem, and put her arms around him. He bent down and told her rather quietly, his mouth almost touching her ear:

"It's sort of an apology for making it look like I thought you needed a man… that wasn't what I meant… you know… plus, I thought it would be fun, and it's fitting,… sweet liberty… and all that. Happy birthday, Buttercup."

She looked up at him and smiled:

"I never once thought that that's what you meant, but thank you for being aware of it, anyway." She sort of had to laugh again, noticing the soft curl to his hair and the rather garish pink lipstick. Shrem's face was probably pretty enough to pull off the dress and the dark blue nails, the silver hair clips, and the pearl necklace, but his sheer size and bulk, made him look like one of those women a poor 18th century farmer would have sold his donkey for… she would have been able to do its work and then some.

Jim tapped her on the shoulder, and Shrem let her go… he seemed a little reluctant. She hugged him too, and he wished her a happy belated birthday. He was wearing a rather hideous dress, a blond wig, and heels… actual _heels_; Christine just hoped he wouldn't hurt himself.

She was passed around after that, receiving hugs and congratulations form everyone, even the women, who had waited for the party to do so.

There were four cakes, three from Shrem and one from Nyo, cold roasts, four kinds of salad, Jim's famous potato and cucumber one being amongst them, and more booze than three times their number could have drunk and lived. In her own quarters, her kitchen table was covered with small parcels, and all the food, the two glasses of wine, and the sheer wonderful absurdity of the whole thing finally got to Christine, and she cried.

Aureya, who was right beside her, wrapped her arms around her, rubbed her back, and asked:

"Honey, what's wrong… we thought this was funny, but if you think it's stupid we can…"

"No… no… it's… no one's ever done anything like this for …" She didn't really get any further, as small hick-uppy sobs took over, and she kind of started to laugh in between them, she caught herself enough to add:

"But it _is_ really stupid… _and_ funny."

Aureya smiled up at her, then looked over her shoulder and nodded at someone; Christine was now full out crying again, and could just feel herself being transferred from Aureya's arms into much larger ones, much further up.

"Shhhh, Sunshine, what's wrong?" As his familiar scent surrounded her, Christine could practically feel every single muscle in her body relax.

"Nothing's wrong… everything's perfect… it's freaking me out."

Shrem just laughed into her hair and pulled her a little closer.

She was halfway through a thought process that involved the paradox of how someone with Shrem's body temperature could be so warm, when a rather flustered looking Pavel rushed into the room, called her name and nearly stumbled over his pink, frilly skirt as he tried to get to her.

"Nyo… baby… Bones… no use… quick!" The almost green tinge of his face set off his fuchsia lipstick, and the dark eye shadow made his already wide eyes look even bigger.

_Oh crap._

"She's gone into labour?"

Pavel just looked more panicked, then made a weir noise between a grunt and a whine, and said:

"There's vater, and she's screaming… I think so."

With that he grabbed her elbow and dragged her through the tent into Gaila's apartment. Everyone was standing around one of the couches and Christine had to shove Scotty and Christopher out of the way to even get anywhere near Noyota, who was sitting there, glaring at Bones, who looked like he was about to pass out.

"Oh, Chris, thank goodness."

Noyota just latched onto her hand for dear life, and the next thing she knew, she was screaming and crushing Christine's hand.

"Leonard, when did her water break, and when was her last contraction?"

Bones just looked wide-eyed and clueless, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Leonard!!!!"

"Ahm… about three minutes ago… I don't think she's had a contraction before this one."

"Nyo?" The other woman had stopped screaming and squeezing her hand, so she figured it was OK to ask.

"I've had some weird stomach pains all day, but I just thought it was indigestion… it's too soon…" She looked decidedly worried, so Christine gave her her best reassuring smile:

"No, it's not… two weeks give or take is nothing… this is perfect, don't worry… he'll be fine."

Turning back to Bones she enquired:

"When's the med team going to be here?"  
"The what?… oh, fuck!" He promptly pulled out his communicator and rushed off outside.

"Oh God… he's a doctor, why is he so useless?" Christine had never heard Noyota whine, but this certainly came close. She just smiled once more and said:

"It happens… it's impossible to keep your professional distance sometimes, and this is his first child too… don't you think it's kind of sweet?" Noyota just gave her a scathing look and raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough."

"Six minutes." Bones practically panted as he reappeared. Noyota was about to say something to him, and judging from the expression on her face it wasn't going to be a declaration of her undying love, but as she opened her mouth, she slumped forward, screamed once again, and nearly broke Christine's fingers.

"That close together? Nyo, I'll have to check how far you're dilated… OK? I need to move you to…" Looking around, she realised there really wasn't anywhere to move her to. "I need everyone outside… Bones, Miriam, you two stay… Miriam, you have kids, right?"

"Nope."

"Right… never mind,… you can still stay… take Nyo's hand." As she moved towards the bottom of the couch, she noticed the rather frazzled look the slightly older woman was giving her.

"It's fine, I promise… you might just have him much sooner than you think… you're healthy and fit, you might have a really quick labour."

"But… but…"

"It's alright… I'm here, and Leonard will snap out of it… and you won't have this baby in the next five minutes, I swear… OK?… so there's plenty of time."

Fortunately, Noyota was wearing a dress, which made the whole thing easier, Christine just had to move her underwear out of the way.

"We're good… you're only half-way there… the best of both worlds… you won't have junior on this couch, but it doesn't look like you'll be in labour all day either… it's perfect… relax." Noyota visibly let out a breath and smile weakly; Christine rubbed the side of her thigh reassuringly and smiled back.

The med team arrived exactly on time, they were only slightly hindered by the rather large group of people in the hall. Christine noticed a few odd looks directed at some of the men, Bones in particular, as they pushed Noyota out of the apartment in a wheelchair.

As the whole group fell into step behind them, one of the attendings looked rather sternly at them:

"We can only take two people, the rest of you will have to make their own way."

"Leonard and Christine." Noyota practically screamed the names at them as another contraction set in.

She didn't let go of Christine's hand for the entire ride to the med lab, clutching Bones' on her other side. By the time they reached the delivery room, she was fully dilated and ready to go. The doctor in charge of delivery asked Christine to leave, but Nyo screamed bloody murder at him, so Christine stayed… inexperienced first year or not.

Alexander James McCoy was born Stardate 2258.124, had his mother's lips, his father's eyes, even if they were brown, and arrived just in time to witness a rather special event in memory of the man he was named for.


	13. Three Times The Charm

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this, I've actually been working on some original stuff, wheeeeeee!**

**This chapter gave me some problems, because I didn't really have a properly structured plan for it, so, if it seems a bit rambly, and disorganised that's why.**

**Also: I would like to officially dedicate this chapter to temptationable, who sent me my first piece of fanart ever… not just for this story… EVER!**

**Check it out: It's my new avatar! (Needless to say, I squealed like a girl… ehm, I am a girl, but you know what I mean, and I haven't stopped smiling all day.)**

**A big thank you to everyone who reviewed… I did notice that you guys like numbers after all, so I'll set a goal of 130… how's that sound? (Say 'good', pretty please.)**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs… the rest, not so much.**

_**Christine**_

It was one of _those_ mornings… the damp grass and early rays of sunshine gave everything a brand new, just washed sort of look… and one deep breath of the still cool air, was enough to make you believe that anything was possible. She loved these kinds of mornings. This one, in particular, had that added spark of excitement and anticipation oozing from ever pore.

Entering the hanger, Christine inhaled deeply once more, and the odd mixture of grease and conductor fluid, metal shavings and paint, had the same type of effect on her she'd always imagined coming home to freshly baked cookies would have. At 0625 hours, there were only a couple of other people already busy with last minute preparations, among them Shrem and Aureya.

"Good Morning, Buttercup."

There was his usual bright smile, even this early in the morning, which was promptly followed by a tight hug and a kiss to the forehead.

"Good luck today, I hope you're little piece of art flies straight this time." He didn't really look or sound condescending, but Christine still took a little offence:

"Smartass."

He just chuckled, gave her one more squeeze, then let go, and went back to his flyer. Aureya just grinned at her from beside Shrem, rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

Christine wasn't really sure why she'd come here so early; Pavel was the only one who really knew anything about the mechanics of the model, even though she'd picked up quite a bit during the last few months. She concluded that she'd simply been too excited to sleep, and went through all 18 steps of a routine systems check… at least she knew that much.

Over the next half an hour the hanger began to fill, as most contestants double and triple checked their miniatures.

By 0800 hours, the air was positively abuzz with excitement… the happy, expectant kind, full off common goals and convictions; all ideals of tolerance and unity in the execution of an illicit race of toys; Christine's heart felt huge and heavy in her chest.

At around 0830 hours Commander Spock arrived with coffee and various forms of breakfast, stating something mildly acerbic sounding about career paths, and how food delivery should not fall into the necessary duties of a Starfleet officer. He was closely followed by a group of four people, Hikaru amongst them, who carried large boxes, were greeted with 'ahhh's and 'ohhh's as they set them on one of the central table, and were then promptly shoved out of the way. The boxes contained small coloured ribbons, meant to be inscribed with the names of the fallen, and attached to the flyers. Lily, being the most aggressive of their team, was sent off of retrieve some. When the shuffle for ribbons ended, and all the teams stood gathered around their models, bent over their tables, an eerie silence descended.

Christine once more felt the keen sting of never having known most of the people her friends were mourning, as she watched Pavel write the names of young men and women who'd been part of his first crew for the Lennox challenge, she'd heard the names, of course, had heard the stories, but she'd never gotten to meet any of them. Lily spelled out another five names, attached the ribbons, and handed a single strip of pale yellow fabric and the dark marker to Christine. She only had one name to write, one man to mourn; holding her breath while doing so, she slowly, deliberately spelled the words 'William Chapel', tied the ribbon to the left wing tip of their model, and smiled sadly at Pavel and Lily:

"Done."

Looking up, she studied the faces of her friends, scattered around the adjoining tables. She saw that Gaila, Aureya, and Shrem were crying, that Jim was struggling not to, saw them handing around one ribbon, saw the girls – and Shrem – place a kiss on it, while the guys touched it with something akin to reverence; when it made its way to them, to Pavel, she was not surprised to see the name: Alexander Lennox.

It was attached to Eya and Shrem's flyer.

Hikaru had made his way to them, placed his hand on Christine's shoulder and told them:

"They're almost done with the set up, I'll be back in about 40 minutes to give you your start number and location… we're trying to spread out the people with the controls all over campus, you'll have to fly via the navigation system for the most part, but you knew that… easier not to get everyone caught all at the same time, of course we'll all meet at the finish line."

He gave her shoulder a small squeeze, smiled, and left the hanger. Christine liked the fact that they'd really gotten to be friends since their failed attempt at romance.

***

Their team had been stationed on the balcony of the main Linguistics building, which was quite lucky, since they were one of the few who were able to properly _see_ their flyer, at least for small parts of the race. The starting line was on the exercise grounds, the only place on campus where they could lay a few hundred model flyers down on the ground all at the same time, and had a moderately fair chance of not immediately alerting security. (As a matter of fact, 3 flyers in the competition actually belonged to security staff… it was all a little convoluted.)

The official start shot would fall at 1000 hours, and would be broadcasted via their coms. Now, at 0940 hours, the communicator was constantly blaring, announcing finalised conduct details, checking with all entered teams, and giving last minute instructions on the secure frequency, especially hacked for the event.

A suspiciously large amount of people were milling around campus, having by now fully abandoned any attempt to remain inconspicuous; it was Sunday morning after all, and there were excited students and staff all over the place, when by rights, the entire grounds should be relatively empty.

Another ten minutes down the line, and it was positively heaving with people, there were picnic blankets on the grass, folding chairs, and Christine caught the distinct smell of burning coal… someone had apparently set up a barbecue.

Her heart was now fluttering in her chest from sheer excitement; Lily, like herself, was grinning from ear to ear, and both of them broke out into small, impromptu fits of hopping and squealing from time to time, while Pavel seemed to hold it together for the three of them, by being all focused attention and mature concern; Christine had to laugh about that, considering that he was the youngest in their team by four years, and was a full 10 years younger than her.

"You two should go down to the finish line once it starts, you vill see much better from there." He gave them an indulgent smile, just like one would give two small girls; Christine didn't blame him, they were certainly acting like a bunch of five year olds.

"Are we bugging you, sweetie?" Lily barely hid her grin.

"Vell… you von't be any help… let's put it that vay."

"Fine, suit yourself." Lily sounded a lot less annoyed than her words would lead one to believe, and leaned over to give Pavel an extended peck on the lips; his stern look slipped for a moment, and he just smiled and waved as Lily grabbed Christine's hand and dragged her through the Linguistics building, out the main entrance, and towards the finish line outside the mess hall.

The entire area was chock a block with people, and Christine counted it a small miracle when a small green hand suddenly landed on her arm and its owner announced:

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm bloody starving."

"Hey, Eya… so, you finally settled the 'who's driving' dispute with Shrem?" Lily gave the other woman a warm smile, but only received muttered curses in return.

"Huh?"

"Who ever heard of playing Twister to decide something like that anyway?… I'm double jointed, but that man bends like a fucking pretzel…."

Christine just snorted at that, then full out laughed:

"I hope you didn't tell Spock… the whole thing sounds highly compromising."

"He refereed." Aureya was still scowling a little, but seemed to get over it rather quickly, when she spotted a small stand selling chocolate covered Andorian pineappleberries.

Someone had clearly hacked the campus wide com system, because the next thing anyone knew, a loud bang echoed from a variety of speakers, and a loud voice announced:  
"And they're off!"

Aureya had a stick of fruit and chocolate halfway to her mouth, when a slightly taller, and substantially greener woman collided with her, hugged her and called:

"I can't believe I found you guys… did you get kicked out too?"

"Fermat's earlobes, Gaila, this shit is dangerous… I nearly impaled myself."

Gaila just ignored her, and proceeded to hug Lily and Christine.

She looked like she was about to say something else, but thought better of it, when the improvised broadcasting screen, floating neatly between the mess hall and the main administration building, flickered to life. The entire crowd turned as one, and the image on screen almost took Christine's breath away. The camera was presumably positioned at a distance, in order to capture the full race, and the Bay was visible in the background, with hundreds of small objects zooming across the screen, flitting into focus as they passed, and reflecting the morning sun in metallic glints, while the colourful ribbons whipped around in the wind.

From behind them, they could hear cheering, and as they all turned, there was a brief glimpse of the flyers, as they cut through campus for the first time, diagonally to the finish line for now, and past the Engineering building. There was a surge forward, then loud shouting and hooting, and Christine allowed herself to just be swept along. She spotted something that looked suspiciously like a X23M bacteria in the middle of the final field, and Lily grabbed her arm, and they both screamed a little louder.

_Screw it. Final field or not, the thing was still in the air and flying straight… heck yea!_

When the last stragglers passed the gap between buildings, the crowd turned back to the screen, which had now zoomed in on the leading field. It was Eya and Gaila's turn to scream. The flyer in the lead belonged to neither, but was familiar to all of them; Christopher and Miriam were in front, followed closely by Shrem and Aureya, followed in turn, and equally as closely, by Gaila and Jim.

"Holy crap… look at the crusties go." Gaila sounded more proud than anything else.

Bones suddenly appeared amongst them, AJ strapped to his front and entirely unperturbed by all the commotion:

"Hey guys, just a heads up, security is closing in, they're still mostly confused… or uncooperative, the board's been informed, but I think they're still in shock… ahm, and Scotty was disqualified for insulting one of the referees… 'thought you'd like to know." And before anyone had a chance to coo over AJ, or ask for further details, a huge cheer erupted just behind them again, and Leonard placed both hands around his tiny son's head, presumably to muffle the noise.

"Better get out of here, see you in a bit." With that Bones headed in the direction of the Med Lab, just as the first five fliers appeared in the same gap as earlier, only this time they were heading towards them.

"I fucking knew I shouldn't have let him drive!" Aureya groaned and shook her head, Shrem and her flyer was now in third position. But no sooner had she even finished the sentence, then the offending object gave a small shudder, shot forward, overtaking team Gaila/Jim, previously in second, and then promptly doing the same with flyer Taylor/Pike, just as it was right above their heads. It shot across the finishing line and landed almost gracefully. There was complete silence, as the audience seemed to process what had just happened.

Aureya muttered a quiet:

"Clever bastard didn't use the reserve until…" Then all words were drowned in a deafening cheer. The flyers were coming thick and fast now, but Lily and Christine had abandoned looking for theirs, and had opted for congratulating Aureya and Gaila for first and third place, respectively.

As the crowd converged closer to the finish line, Spock, who'd been on referee duty, appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"It seems that the members of the board are on their way. May I take this chance to congratulate you two." He nodded at both Aureya and Gaila as if he was equally pleased for both of them, but then turned slightly green when Aureya took his hand and went very quiet for a minute.

"Very well." was all he said out loud.

Christine caught a whispered exchange between the two green women, caught the words 'pink' and 'ribbon', and heard a somewhat indignant exhale from Spock.

---

By the time security managed to surround and contain the non-resisting crowd, their entire circle of friends had managed to find one another, only Bones had decided to stay in the lab, for the simple reason that he still had AJ; Noyota on the other hand, was right there with them.

The head of Student Affairs looked decidedly irritated, and just a little overwhelmed, as he stood there, glaring at the mass of students and faculty members. He was dressed in what appeared to be a golfing outfit, and Christine cursed silently in her head.

_Bags! No wonder he is pissed._

"Who is responsible for this?!"

There was a short, pregnant pause, and then the entire crowd just roared and cheered at him, most of them raising not only one, but both hands.

The middle aged man visibly deflated, he looked like he wanted to say something imposing, then looked a little lost, and finally waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal, while turning to his fellow board members, to presumably inform them that they'd all be better off ignoring this.

He did turn around one final time, and announced, still sounding rather irritable:

"No official request for a miniaturised race has ever been made; there was no reason to assume the board was going to refuse it. Next time, you would be wise to simply go through the proper channels."

They all knew it was an excuse to avoid the administrative and logistic nightmare that punishing 300+ people would be; they all cheered anyway.

***

_**Shrem**_

_This day could hardly get any better or suck any more at the same time._

He was partially drunk as that particular thought flitted through his brain, but he wasn't too sure if he wouldn't have thought it even if he'd been sober. Aureya seemed over the moon, and he felt like a complete fool for even allowing anything to cloud this moment. Not that the entire event was even intended to be entirely euphoric, they were at the Green Wolf after all, and there was dancing, and whiskey, and whispering at one small empty table, and remembering another few hundred who should be there, but were not, but he was moping about something stupid, and felt almost disrespectful for it.

He'd been so busy over the last two weeks, what with Christine's birthday party, AJ's birth, and everything to do with the Lennox Challenge, he'd never had a chance to ask Christine about her date with Sulu, and then so much time had passed that she seemed to have forgotten that they actually hadn't talked about it, and he felt like he didn't need to anymore, because it seemed blatantly obvious that the two of them were really hitting it off. So now, he was feeling decidedly sorry for himself, because no matter what Eya said, Sulu just seemed a much better choice for Christine, being all sweet and just a bit shy, and a little on the dopy side. Shrem was a good friend, and excellent friend, and he wasn't going to ruin this for Chris, by imposing his own feelings on her, when she seemed perfectly fine without them.

"Whoooo, do a shot with me, Gorgeous." Miriam had to hold on to one of his arms to keep herself steady; she'd been positively inundated with drinks since it transpired that she was the one to steer Christopher and her flyer.

Shrem managed to pull himself from his self-pity, and smiled brightly at the petite older woman:

"Sure thing… mind you, don't you think it's about time for a little nap?"

Miriam looked pensive for a moment, in that slightly too intense way in which drunk people considered small matters as if they held the answers to the biggest questions in the universe, and then shook her head:

"Later… plenty of time to sleep when I'm old." She told him with conviction.

_What the lady wants…_

After she'd downed her shot, attempted to down his as well, and he'd valiantly fought her off, Miriam wobbled on down the bar, where Jim managed to catch her. Shrem caught his eye, and they exchanged looks and gestures that indicated that someone had to get Miriam to bed. Christopher, who'd apparently witnessed the exchange, took her off Jim's hands and signalled an "I've got it, boys" at both of them. Jim smiled and shook his head, and Shrem repeated the gesture right back at him.

"Hey there!"

There was blond hair, and that sweet smile, and the scent of cinnamon body lotion, and Shrem's insides turned to mush.

"Hey Buttercup."

She was now positively grinning at him:

"So… I hear you took fist place… that's impressive and all, but have you seen _this_?!"

She shoved a tiny ribbon at him, shaped like a rose, that held a small metal plate in the centre, on it was written '128th place'.

"They gave you a ribbon for _that_?" He tried to sound sarcastic, he really did, but it just came out all breathy and weak.

Christine gave him a small fake frown, and said:

"It's like the Olympics… participation over excellence, you know."

She looked all serious and thoughtful, Shrem simply had to kiss her forehead.

"Sure Sunshine."

He didn't even notice that he'd somehow manoeuvred her into a darkish corner away from the main part of the bar, until her back hit the wall. She seemed entirely unconcerned, and just gave a small 'oh' in acknowledgement.

_Memo to self: Never, ever let her go to a bar on her own. There's naïve, and then there's just plain oblivious._

"Anyways, I actually wanted to congratulate you on winning… not that I doubted that you and Eya would. But we didn't have much of a chance to hang out recently, and I sort of really missed you… but never mind that, I just wanted to say: Congr… hmff."

_OK, so he lost it… can you blame him?_

He really hadn't meant to kiss her, he hadn't even meant to back her into a corner, it just happened.

This close she smelled even more fantastic, all clean soap, and cinnamon, and just a touch of perfume, and then her smell somehow mingled with her taste, and Shrem's mind went completely blank. She was soft, and felt so delicate in his arms, and he really didn't mean to deepen the kiss and push his tongue into her mouth, but she gave this small gasp, and his body simply reacted of its own accord. He now had her pressed against the wall, both his hands in her hair, and was in serious danger of really losing it, so he managed to pull away with a small groan of protest he didn't authorise his mouth to make.

"I'm so sorry, Buttercup."

She was looking up at him, cheeks flushed, hair a little dishevelled, eyes wide in shock, and her mouth open, her breath coming in small pants. Before he knew what he was doing, he was bending down again, capturing her lips once more, and slipping one hand down to her neck, letting his thumb caress the delicate skin just below her throat. She gave a little humming sound, and Shrem couldn't suppress a small moan. Her hands reached for his shirt, and she fisted them in the fabric just below his chest. He expected her to push him off, and decided to be the bigger man, pulling away from her lips for a second time. She followed a little, and her eyes were still partially closed, and all he managed was:

"So, so sorry, Buttercup" before he was kissing her again. His hands slid down to her waist, and he could feel her shiver a little, so he pushed himself closer, not caring in the slightest that she would be able to feel exactly what his body thought they should be doing right now. He allowed himself to fully taste her, feel every inch of her pressed against him, and was desperate to get her even closer. He was so overwhelmed by the intensity of his desire, he barely noticed when she began to kiss him back. When his brain caught up, his fist tuned a little frantic, nipping at her lips and kissing the side of her throat, earning a small whimper form Christine, then his previous thoughts finally slid into place, and he forced himself to step back, requiring an amount of effort he wouldn't have thought possible. She still looked shocked and confused, she was still flushed and beautiful beyond comprehension, and he felt like crying.

"I… I'm sorry. I… didn't mean… no, I meant to… but I know you and Sulu, are… right?... or not?... and… humpf."

_Holy mackerel, she was actually kissing him! _

There was a moment of sheer shocked surprise, and then his knees turned to butter, and he sort of slumped back against her, and pulled her closer. Then, however, she _did_ push him away, and with the cuter of her two bug faces told him:

"Ahm… I… I have to think about this... I don't know, if…"

She just shook her head, turned and overly quickly disappeared back into the direction of the main bar.

Shrem turned to watch her go, leaned against the wall, and tried his hardest not to completely freak out.

_She'd just rejected him… right?... But she'd also kissed him, and… ah, crap._

He wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

**A/N: Once again, I've got someone legging it after the first kiss… that might be something to take up with a shrink. ;p**

**Anyways, sorry if this didn't flow as it should… any chance of making 130 anyways? O.O**


	14. The Morning After

**A/N: So, a bit of a mixed bag, this one, but I'm oddly fond of it… hope you like it too. **

**A massive thank you to fernsfairie, who sent me the most adorable picture of her blue teddy, who she's given antennae to, and renamed Shrem… soooooo cute!**

**A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys RULE! Special mention to tira_lu, who's number 129 AND 130… I know that's cheating, but I love you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters… if I did, my OCs would be there, and that would just be one big mess… or would it? **

All of Monday morning, Christine felt like she was one of the living dead. She apparently wasn't the only one, since Captain Taylor's Introduction to Pan-galactic Anthropology was even more disorganised than usual. Miriam stood at the front of the class, squinted like she was focusing really hard, but made little to absolutely no sense. Then again, Christine was not exactly a qualified judge of what made sense and what didn't, since all she heard was:

"Bla, bla, bla, bla blablabla, bla."

She could practically feel the spaced out expression on her face, and when she sank down on one of the small benches outside the mess hall just before lunch, she thought she might start to catch flies, if she didn't make a conscious effort to close her mouth.

"Shit!"

_Great, now she was cursing at herself. A Sure sign that she was loosing her mind… Why would he do something like that? Why? _

She reached a hand towards her mouth, brushing two fingers across her lips. She could swear they hadn't stopped tingling since last night, which was preposterous of course, medically speaking, it was completely impossible to sustain increased blood flow for that long. The Worst thing was, of course, that they weren't the only thing that seemed to be tingling; it was pretty much a body-wide phenomenon.

She slapped both hands over her face and groaned.

"_I can't do this, I just can't… And he hasn't even asked me to do anything, in the first place. He's not exactly the type to… well, to… ahhh. Crap!.. He wanted me to get laid… maybe he just figured: If you want something done right… Ahhhhh, stop it, stop it! Don't even think about what 'doing it right' even means!"_

She sort of gave a small high-pitched scream and stomped her feet in sheer frustration. A couple of second year cadets walking past gave her wide-eyed looks and raised eyebrows; she didn't care.

"_You have the sexual confidence of a washtub, and he knows that… what the hell was he thinking? There's no way you'd even have the first notion of what to do with him… And then there are all those rumours about his… physical attributes… great! Be prude in your own head, why don't you… about his… penis… and it was unpleasant with Robert, and he was tiny, Shrem probably wouldn't even fit, and… arrrgh, stop bloody thinking about this!............_

_And what about his promiscuity? He'd be bored within a week, maybe less… if he fits, that is…"_

She had now progressed to hitting her forehead while quietly muttering:

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

"Ehm… hey there, Chris… I was calling your name, but you were a little busy being… ahm, demented… apparently."

She looked to her left, and there, right next to her on the bench, sat Aureya, studying her with a rather worried expression; she hadn't even noticed her sitting down.

"Rough night?... You didn't drink any of that red crap they were handing around… not really meant for human consumption, I think you need an extra set of chromosomes to handle that shit."

"Ahm… no, no red crap."

"Whoa, you just cursed."

"I paraphrased."

"Thanks be to fuck, you're still you." Eya gave her a wide grin at this, then looked a bit concerned again:

"'Mind telling me what's with the mild self-harming?"

Christine contemplated evading the question, then she thought about lying, and finally she sighed, slumped forward, and said:

"Shrem kissed me last night."

"---"

"Thanks, that's really helpful."

"Well, I _was_ going to say 'Thank the tiny space critters, and it's about fucking time', but then I remembered that you were hitting yourself, and I got a tad confused."

"Nghuh…."

"OK… I'm sorry,… I don't think I'm fully equipped to handle this, I might just freak you out more; I'm calling in the girls."

"God no!… at least not Gaila."

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"Pfft… don't be daft… you need Gaila, trust me."

Christine wistfully thought back to a time when she didn't have friends, and knew when to keep her mouth shut.

---

"Vhy am I here?"

"Because Noyota has AJ, Miriam is fast asleep in her office and her aide couldn't wake her, and we obviously couldn't ask Shrem… so we're woefully short on girls." Aureya sounded entirely pragmatic about the entire thing; Pavel gave her a really dirty look:

"I am so honoured that I am the first person you think of vhen you need an extra female… after Shrem, of course."

Christine thought it must be something of a feat to pull off sarcasm with that much of an accent.

Fortunately, Lily managed to appease Chekov by whispering something in his ear… Christine was pretty sure she didn't want to know what she was saying.

"So, what's going on?... And why did I get a ten minute lecture about reining in my tongue via the com, before I was allowed to come?" Gaila sounded a little muted, clearly attempting to stick to some sort of agreement.

"I'm not sure, I don't know if I should have called all of you after all… I sort of panicked. Chris, if you don't want to talk about this, we can just…"

"No, it's fine, Eya, maybe if I talk about it, I'll realise that it's not a big deal, and stop freaking out about it."

"OK… he didn't hurt you, did he?" She looked incredulous, but seemed to be concerned enough about Christine to abandon her convictions.

"What?!... No!!... Why would you even think something like that?" Christine realised that she sounded outraged, and sort of angry, and was about to apologise, when she noticed that Aureya let out a relieved sigh and gave her a small smile:

"I'm sorry… that was stupid of me… it was just something that he said before, and… with you appearing so distraught…"

"He said what?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt… I have no idea what you are talking about." Lily looked from one to the other, brow wrinkled in serious concern, then added:

"I really don't mean to be insensitive, but are we talking about some sort of sexual assault?"

Pavel sat up bolt upright, looking really uncomfortable, and sort of furious all at the same time.

"NO!!!" Both Aureya and Christine shouted, as Lily too, let out a slow, relieved breath.

"No, absolutely not. Ehm… last night… Shrem sort of kissed me… well, not sort of,… definitely kissed me." Christine studied her hands rather intently, then looked up to be met by some fairly confused expressions.

"I'm sorry, sweetie… and I know Aureya told me to not say anything stupid, but… what exactly is the problem?" Gaila spoke quietly, deliberately, like she was genuinely worried about putting her foot in it.

"I thought that was sort of obvious… I mean, Shrem and me, how's that going to work?"

"Aw, sweetie… well, you see, when a boy and a girl like each other very much… or just want to have fun… or two boys, or two girls, works too… then they do this thing where…"

"Gaila!!! That's exactly what I was talking about!" Aureya's eyes momentarily glinted with genuine irritation.

"I'm sorry… sometimes stuff just comes out." Gaila actually looked a little sheepish.

"I'm not worried about the technicalities… no, wait… actually, that's a lie, I am worried about those… but not only. I'm not the easy going type… and, well, not easy…" Here she threw Gaila an apologetic look, but the other woman just grinned, and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"I don't think I could handle a fling… especially not with Shrem… now that I think about it properly, he… ahm… might just be my favourite person in the world… how pathetic is that?… and… well…"

_Great! Now everyone was giving her dopy looks._

"And it's terrifying… OK?... so… ahhhh!"

"He said he wanted a fling?" Aureya sounded dubious.

"He didn't say anything… except 'sorry'… a lot."

"I think you need to talk to him… there's no point in discussing the emotional stuff with us, before you two haven't sorted this out." Gaila earned herself some seriously shocked looks for that statement.

"What? Because I like sex, you lot think I don't do the feelings crap?… I've been fucking the same guy for the last two months, exclusively, and I like it… suck on _that_!"

The entire table erupted into wide grins; Gaila sighed theatrically, but could not quite hide her smile:

"Back to the stuff we _can_ discuss… what _technicalities_ are you worried about?"

Christine felt her face heat up; she returned to studying her hands.

"I'm afraid you'll have to give me more than that."

"I don't really want to discuss…"

"Oh come on… it's just sex."

"That's easy for you to say… I've only been with one guy, and it was… pretty gruesome… and he wasn't even average in size, and…" She trailed off, feeling stupid, and embarrassed, and then even more stupid for being embarrassed.

"Ahhhh, I see. If the size thing worries you, then I hate to state the obvious, since you're the nurse and not me, but you are kind of stretchy down there, and with the right…"

"VHY AM I HERE??!!"

Pavel looked positively mortified, he just glared at all of them, and Lily patted him on the arm affectionately:

"It's OK, baby, you can go… but just for the record, I know, that you know about the 'stretchy thing'." She winked at him, and he just opened his mouth and stared in sheer horror, before turning on his heel and stalking off, muttering something like:

"Crazy vomen… alvays with the sex."

"Oops, I might have to make that up to him… not to worry, I'll think of something." Lily just gave them what she liked to call her 'dirty sugar mama' grin, and nodded towards Christine:

"I agree with Gaila, though… well, not about the 'stretchy thing'… no, hang on… about the 'stretchy thing' too, but mostly about the 'talking'."

Christine groaned:

"Stop saying 'stretchy thing'!"

***

She went to Admiral Pike's Basic Starfleet Protocol and Prime Directive with much the same results as her earlier lectures: "Bla, bla, bla blablabla, blabla.", then went home and hid in her room.

_Mature move, Christine! Also: Best hiding place ever; exactly where you're supposed to be._

She'd been agonising over how to even initiate a conversation with Shrem, when at 1921 hours, her door bleeped and it turned out that the object of her contemplation had decided to beat her to the punch. He was holding a large cake tin, shoved it in her direction and muttered:

"Orange peel ginger bread cookies."

_Well, that sorted out everything._

"I'm really sorry about yesterday, Buttercup. I didn't mean to scare you, or freak you out… or whatever else I did… and Eya and Gaila sort of started talking about some seriously disturbing stuff today… not that I find girl parts disturbing in general… and certainly not yours in particular… and,… oh, holy fuck… where was I going with this again?"

He looked completely flustered at this stage, and Christine wondered if there was something seriously wrong with her for thinking he was adorable while standing there with a tin of cookies, and, technically, babbling about her vagina.

She took the cookies and stepped aside to let him in; she hadn't said a single word yet, being too busy blushing, panicking, and telling her inner voice, currently monologueing, to shut the heck up.

He sat down on her couch and gave her his "I'm a giant lost blue puppy" look. She thought it wise to take her reading chair on the other side of the coffee table, and studied her knees for a moment.

"So… what exactly did Gaila and Eya say?"

"You don't wanna know."

"OK, then."

There was a moment of painfully awkward silence, before Shrem cleared his throat and asked:

"I didn't really scare you, did I?"

"No… I scared myself more."

He looked contemplative for a moment, then seemed to just say what popped into his head:

"You taste lovely, and you just feel so good when I touch you, and you're driving me absolutely crazy." He looked straight at her when he said this, and she could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest, and her breathing go all over the place, while her cheeks were now positively on fire.

"Shrem… I don't know if I can do this… I…"

"I know… you've said that already."

"I don't even know what _this_ is."

"Well, _me_… obviously."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because… because all the jokes you've made about being a slut are only funny because they're true… in a way… and I'm absolutely convinced that I'm useless in bed…I have no idea how to… well, anything, really… and I don't want to have to watch out for every single moderately attractive person, because you might be interested… and I've just made one giant leap, and assumed that you even want something like a relationship… and…."

She was in serious danger of beginning to hyperventilate, and Shrem just looked at her with an expression of mild concern on his face. He stood, made his way over to her, and crouched beside her chair; he reached out one large hand and rested its palm gently against her cheek.

"Don't… I can't think when you do that." She sounded like a small girl, all weak and a little whiny; Shrem just laughed softly, and told her:

"Well, Sunshine, that makes two of us."

With that, he leaned towards her, kneeling, and gently brushed his lips against hers, she inhaled sharply, and he repeated the action, lingering a little longer.

"Shrem, I…"

"Shhhh… just trust me." He kissed her properly this time, but still gently, capturing her mouth and sucking tentatively on her lower lip; she couldn't help but whimper a little, and he carefully brushed his tongue past her slightly open lips, mindful not to go further than she was comfortable with.

Her heart felt like it was about to take flight… or possible give up and die, and her mind was a swirling mass of nonsense, completely incapable of telling her what to do next.

Apparently she didn't really need her mind though, because her body seemed to be taking over, and before she really knew what was happening, she was sliding off the chair, was straddling Shrem's lap. Their lips never parted during this readjustment, and Christine's mouth was now busy with holding it's own against his, her tongue seemed to find its way into his mouth all by itself, and she groaned lightly at the slightly sweet and spicy taste.

"You've nicked some of my cookies." She'd spoken without realising it, her voice breathy, and a little bold, and barely sounding like hers at all.

"Quality control." He almost purred the words, then slid his left hand up the base of her skull, so his fingers were splayed out on her scalp and tangled in her hair, he pulled her back to him with just a little more determination, and pressed his lips against hers almost greedily this time. She reached up with both hands, and let her own fingers slide into his silvery white hair, her lids drifted closed at the feathery soft feel of it, and she whimpered once more, while Shrem uttered a low moan.

"Incoming call, Patterson and Lauren Chapel, New Orleans."

They momentarily just stared, then turned and did likewise to the small blinking light at the bottom of the communicator screen, both clearly a little dazed.

"Ehm…" Shrem went first.

"Shit!"

"Hmmmm… I really did scramble your brain." He said this all soft and a little dreamily, and Christine just smiled at him like a complete fool.

"Call waiting." The disembodied voice seemed strangely insistent.

"I should probably…"

"Yea, you should… but maybe you'd better get off me first… or we could just make your mother faint again."

Christine blushed furiously, and scrambled to her feet.

Shrem, too, got off the floor, a little more slowly, and carefully brushed his hand over her hair:

"I' better go… I left all the stuff from making the cookies, and Aureya might just disembowel me this time… and I didn't come here to… you know,… I wanted to talk, but you just… drive me…ugh… and I'm not really sure how to do this, and I don't wanna mess up, and…"

"Call waiting."

Christine rolled her eyes in frustration.

"I… just…"

He nodded at that, and kissed her gently.

"Don't forget about the cookies… they're really nice, even if I say so myself."

"Mmmm, I know, I tasted…"

_Where the hell had that just come from?_

Shrem gave a small groan, grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him, kissing her again, only this time not quiet so gently.

"You're being cruel. I'd really better go… or all my good intentions are going down the drain, and your mother might just have a stroke."

"Call waiting."

"I effin' know!" Christine practically shouted at the com; she could hear Shrem giggle before the door slid shut behind him.

Taking a deep breath, sliding a hand over her slightly rumpled clothes and hair, Christine tried to compose herself before calling:

"Computer, accept call."

The screen flickered to life, and she could see her mother's eyes tentatively searching the quarters, while her father simply scowled.

"He's not here."

Christine informed them; her heart was still racing, and simply saying 'he' seemed to make her breath come a little more quickly.

"Who on earth are you talking about… and what sort of a greeting is that?"

Christine sighed and said:

"Hello mother, father, how have you been?"

"That's better, dear." Her mother gave her a brief smile that did not reach her eyes, and simply ignored the question.

"Now, Robert is here with us… I believe his research has been a resounding success, and we've discussed your small misunderstanding… there is no need to mention the other unfortunate incident… you understand, dear, don't you?"

Christine simply stared at her mother in horrified silence; apparently, and for whatever reason, the older woman seemed to take this as her form of consent, and told her husband:

"You can fetch him now."

Christine was still staring, but finally managed:

"'Misunderstanding?' we've talked about this… and what on earth do you mean by 'unfortunate incident'?"

Her mother theatrically glanced back towards the right, apparently checking to see that the men were still well beyond hearing, and hissed fiercely:

"Really, Christine… you know perfectly well what I am talking about… now, I may understand that you were upset about what you _thought_ you saw… but throwing yourself at some alien freak… that's psychotic… you have no idea what kind of diseases he might carry, and I'm not sure that your odd perversion does not warrant psychological help."

At that very moment, her father and Robert walked on screen, the older man with one arm on the other's shoulder, both smiling companionably.

"There you are, I've just been telling Christine about how well received your research has been… haven't I, dear?" She gave her daughter a look that said 'just play along, and everything will be fine', and smiled fakely at Robert.

"Hello, darling, it is so good to see you." Robert looked as if he hadn't a care in the world, as if the previous 3 months simply had not happened.

Christine was staring again, her mouth was hanging open, and her entire body was tensing up… but for once, the overwhelming emotion wasn't fear, or concern, or even frustration, it was pure, unadulterated anger.

_How dare they? How could they even assume they had any right to pass judgement on her… her… friend?_

_She wanted to scream at them, wanted to tell her mother to shut her racist, bigoted mouth, and never so much as speak to her again; she wanted to tell them just who Shrem was to her… not that she really knew, but she figured it'd come out if she screamed for long enough… but suddenly a fierce possessiveness came over her, a sudden realisation, that Shrem was not something to throw at her parents' heads, to use against Robert like a weapon, or as something that could be misconstrued as revenge, or some act of rebellion… he was __**hers**__, whatever that might mean… and they couldn't have him… none of him… she wouldn't present him like some 'ha, in your face!' type of thing, that they could misinterpret as childish dissent… he was too good for that, too precious to her… but they had still insulted her best friend, and she wouldn't stand for that._

"Now you listen to me, and you listen well: I don't give a donkey' bollocks about Robert's research…"

She saw her mother flinch, and if she was perfectly honest, her voice was even scaring her, it was low, a little growly, and sounded nothing short of menacing… on top of that, she seemed to be channelling Aureya where her vocabulary was concerned.

"… what I care about, is that I caught him with his pants around his ankles, and his lab assistant sucking on his dick… and all I felt was sweet relief. I couldn't care less about you Robert, what I do care about, is that you've just insulted my friend, mother. You have no right to speak of him, or any of my friends for that matter, the way you just did, you don't know him, and frankly, I wouldn't want you to even properly meet him, because I'd be ashamed of you… not that he'd care, he's very reluctant to ever take offence, but still.

For over 27 years, I have done nothing but what you've asked of me, what you expected… except perhaps admire William too much, love him more than what was considered _normal_ in this family… love him the right way… love properly, with all my heart, the way I should."

She was breathing heavily now, feeling faint, and praying desperately that she wouldn't keel over before she'd said her piece.

"I've always thought that I was like you… and I always wanted to be like Will… warm, and caring, and able to… just breathe… and I was so scared… because I kept thinking of all the things I couldn't do… but you know what? I'm _just_ like him, it simply took me longer to break free from your hold."

She was smiling now, genuine happiness spreading through her body, as uttering the words seemed to coincide with the actual realisation. Her parents eyed her as if she had truly lost her mind.

"You know what? There are about another 50 things I could say to you… but I know you simply wouldn't care, and to be perfectly honest, I have better things to do than pointlessly rant at you. I love you… I truly do… and I know that you love me too, somewhere deep down… ehm, Robert, this obviously excludes you… so, if you ever manage to pull your heads out of your… asses, we can… renegotiate our relationship… again, Robert, not you."

She shook her head, then smiled again and said:

"Computer, end call."

Three very stunned faces ceased to exist on the transparent screen.

She sat down on her couch rather heavily, and as the smile slipped from her face, she began to shake uncontrollably. She was going into shock; so, she grabbed her blanket, wrapped it around herself, and opened the tin of gingerbread cookies… she ended up crying into the tin, but she didn't care; the odd mixture of her earlier realisation, and the spicy, sweet taste in her mouth seemed to mingle into an odd sense of self-awareness, of _self_.

She ate half the tin, then wiped her eyes, made herself some camomile tea, and called Shrem.

He simply took one look at her and said:

"I'll be right there."

"No!"

He looked stunned and a little hurt at this.

"Why?... is this about earlier… is it something I did?... I figured it was your parents."

"It was my parents… It's just… if you come over now, I'll tear your clothes off and…"

"Woman, are you _trying _to torture me?"

"No…"

Christine was sobbing again, and Shrem looked completely freaked out, shifting in his spot, as if he had to literally force himself to stay were he was.

"…I'm sorry… I'm just angry with my parents, and hurt, and really upset, and kind of happy about this rather weird thing… and if I sleep with you for the first time because of that… well… they just can't have you… you're mine… and…does any of this make any sense?"

Shrem had gone a few shades bluer as she spoke, and was now looking like he was in physical pain:

"Not really, Buttercup… but I trust you… if it's important to you… just… don't say stuff like that… the 'you're mine' thing, I mean… it's…"

"I'm so sorry… I…" She hic-upped, and he frowned.

"No… don't be sorry… It's just… I can still taste you, and now you're crying, and it's like I'm itching all over, wanting to hold you… and crap, Sunshine, what on earth are you doing to me?… This can't be normal…"

She was laughing a little in between sobs, and he groaned.

"See, and now you do that. And there's snot on your nose, and all I can think about is how cute you are, and…ahhh."

"You didn't have to mention the snot." She sounded a bit sulky, even to her own ears; but he laughed a little, so she smiled.

"OK… I really have to go… otherwise I'll just… I don't know…"

"Right… sorry,… good night, so."

"'Night, Buttercup."

"Oh, and Shrem?'

"Hm?"

"You drive me crazy too."

He groaned again.

---

She barely slept that night.

She was jittery and excited… and incredibly upset. She'd made a real stab at telling her parents – and Robert, but, who cared about him? –, how she felt, and what she thought. And it was true, she did love them, they were her parents; she just didn't like them very much, or respect them, for that matter. In some way, she had just cut her ties with them, even if they were likely not to take any notice; it was terrifying… and liberating.

And then there was still Shrem.

They hadn't really talked, had not discussed what exactly was going on between them, even if neither had left any doubt as to where things were heading.

She was at a complete loss as to how to interpret the things he'd said to her… the ones that made her heart flutter and her stomach tighten. She knew he was good with those kinds of things, and had to struggle with the idea that he'd possibly said the same things to other women… and men.

But she'd been friends with him long enough to know that he was usually rather relaxed, borderline suave even, when it came to flirting, and that adorable stuttery thing he suddenly had going, made her grin into her pillow like a crazy person, when she replayed it in her mind.

She chided herself for not being careful enough… she knew he loved her as a friend, but he hadn't said anything that would lead her to believe that she was something more than that. She wasn't even sure if he was able to romantically love someone.

Her eyes went wide at that thought.

_Was that what she wanted?_

She pulled her pillow over her head to muffle her inner voice screaming: "Oh God yes!"; it wasn't working though.

She still had no idea if she would be able to hold him, even if he was interested in a relationship. She was still her, and he was still him… and she really worried about her deficiencies in the bedroom department, and about the fact that there was an infinite amount of alternatives out there for Shrem.

But he'd been so gentle with her that day, almost delicate, and he'd looked at her in a way that just made all her insides turn to buttery mush, made her feel things she'd long since given up on, he had already caused her to act in a way she didn't think she could, and he'd said one very important thing after all; he'd told her to trust him; so she would.

It was with this thought foremost in her mind, that she finally fell asleep.

***

The next morning, at precisely 0800 hours, just as Christine was having breakfast, her door bleeped. She answered it to find a middle-aged man in a neat suit, a PAD in his hand, and a mildly apathetic expression on his face, standing there and quirking an eyebrow:

"Good morning. Ms Chapel, I presume?"

"_Cadet_ Chapel… yes?"

"I am Dr Wielding; I have been employed to conduct a full psychiatric evaluation of you; is this a bad time?"

Christine suppressed the urge to either spontaneously develop some form of facial tick, or to start laughing hysterically… both would probably be a bad idea under the circumstances.

"My parents, no doubt, are the ones I have to thank for this medical service?"

She stepped aside and indicated her kitchen table, before Dr Wielding even had a chance to answer.

"Coffee?"

"Why, thank you… and, yes please."

She had absolutely no intention of fighting this. Her parents had sent someone to prove that she was insane? So be it.

She'd never been more confident in her sanity than she was at that particular moment, if anything, she was getting progressively saner… even if more flustered, insecure, and somewhat unstable. That wasn't really a contradiction in her opinion.

She answered every question calmly and truthfully, referred Dr Wielding to Bones, who was essentially acting as her GP, once she'd completed two questionnaires and had done some basic image recognition test.

She had no doubt about the fact that Dr Wielding had been employed with a certain bias as part of his task, but Christine thanked him politely as he packed up his equipment, and he gave her a non-committal nod, and a blank look, as he left.

She'd missed her first lecture, but figured it was worth it, simply to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.

She was a little surprised at her own calm acceptance; perhaps she should have been shocked that her parents would go to such lengths to explain her sudden independence at the tender age of 28, but somehow, she had decided not to let their actions get to her any longer. She simply had no desire to give them such power over her.

As she prepared for her second lecture of the day, Alpha Quadrant Anatomy, she opened a small drawer on her desk, and retrieved two small, flat, elongated pieces of compound crystal, printed and engraved with her name, and a date, time, and location.

She had no intention of seeing or speaking to her parents for at least a few months, unfortunately the charity ball in aid of New Vulcan would be in nine weeks; she'd have to speak to them then, since she had every intention of going… after all, all her friends were.

**A/N: OK, long chapter, and this one has been edited within an inch of its life… I've been asked if I was going to drag out the relationship like I did in Half and Half (hi, fairyqueen maeve +waves frantically+), and the answer to that is now a resounding 'nope'. I think these two will be fun to watch as they stumble through the beginnings of a romantic/physical relationship. ;p (ahm… what are your thoughts on smut?… I hate calling it that, because somehow it makes it sound wrong, especially in the context of this story.)**

**Anyways… look how much I wrote for you… so, 145, maybe? please?**


	15. The Other Parents

**A/N: OK… to quote Aureya: "Epping's dick… 25?… are you fucking kidding me?" And even if Dean's Leather Jacket hadn't pulled one of her spectacular catch up stunts (epic story for the last time… early days of Half and Half, and she reviewed all posted chapter… I deleted everything by accident, and she reviewed everything again!!!), it would still have been 19… you all rock so hard, it's unreal.**

**Also, this chapter is dedicated to Dean's Leather Jacket… for obvious reasons. **

**I had to go along to some wine evening one of my mum's best friends was throwing, and was rendered completely out of my tree by a bunch of ladies in their sixties… I haven't had such a bad hangover since I was in college. I may have answered some reviews when I got home, so, if you received something spectacularly weird… ahm, yea… the witches poisoned me! (I vaguely remember a rant about Heroes… I am soooooo sorry!) **

**Also, this update took a little longer, 'cause I was practically dead for a full day. (And then I was mopey and pensive, so I wrote some Firefly.)**

**Enough with the waffling!**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs… nothing else.**

He dreamt of untangling her hair again, only this time, when he turned her around to face him, he didn't swallow hard, stutter something incoherent, and then wander off into her kitchen to randomly pick up and set down cutlery.

He woke with a start, groaned a little in frustration, and made his way to the kitchen, to get a glass of water.

"Ahhhhhrrrgh!!!!!!"

_Oh, yea… Aureya._

"For fuck's sake, Shrem…. Put some clothes on!!!"

"But I thought you were used to me naked by now?"

"Not like that, I'm not!"

"Don't be weird… it's morning… and you pointed out only recently, that you're practically married… and I know you've seen one of those before."

"Ughhh, I don't even know where to begin in telling you how many things are wrong with that statement."

Aureya was sitting up in her bed, and staring at their door, her pillow draped comically over her head.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it has nothing to do with you."

"It better fucking hadn't!"

"Fine, I'll be in the bathroom for a bit."

"Ahm… thanks… I appreciate that… I think?"

---

He was having his second cup of coffee, and Aureya was still glaring at him.

"Oh come on… I'm sorry that I don't share your Terran concepts of modesty, but embrace your Orion heritage a bit, will you?"

"Brilliant idea, Shrem… so, you wanted me to jump you?"

"Ahm… no."

"Then shut up."

But she was grinning at him, apparently back to her normal self, and he had to laugh at her.

"So, let me guess… pleasant dreams?"

Shrem frowned a little at that.

"OK… apparently I guessed wrong."

"No… you were spot on… it's just that, she was really upset last night… those dick wad parents of hers again… and she wouldn't let me come over to comfort her… I didn't really get why, only sort of… and she was crying, and adorable, and holy crap did that turn me on… and now I don't know if it's OK to call her, or if I should wait for her to let me know."

"Huh… so you too?"

"Huh?"

"The crying and stuff… drives Spock crazy… I just thought that was a Vulcan thing… you know, aggression and submission, and all that."

"Well… regardless of my personality, Andorians in general are sort of aggressive… ehm, not the crazy 'I only get to act out from time to time' thing Spock has going on, more of an underlying principle… so, yea, that might be part of it, but there's that whole vulnerability thing too… and with women who aren't immediately vulnerable… what with you being like a rabid Chihuahua when you get going, and with Christine being a bit of an ice queen when she wants to be, it probably sets off some basic male urges… protection, possession… that kind of thing."

"I hadn't really thought of it like that… Mind you, Christine is plenty vulnerable when you get to know her… Which reminds me, have you talked to her about what Gaila and I said?"

"How on earth would I talk to her about something like that? I mean, I wouldn't have a problem, but she'd freak out… 'So, I've heard you're worried about my dick'… What the hell, Eya?... And besides, that's more of a 'show, don't tell' kind of situation."

"Ugh… You didn't have to be so graphic… and I really meant _reassuring _her… you know?"

"Again: Show, don't tell."

"You still need to talk to her."

"I know… which brings me back to my problem… do I call her, or not?"

As if on cue, the com unit bleeped, and announced a list of very familiar names about a mile long, followed by:

"… Usaraan, Andoria."

"Wooo-hooo!" Aureya did a rather convincing Gaila impersonation, as she bounced up and down on her chair. Shrem snorted, and told her:

"It just a little disconcerting how much you love talking to my family… you're almost happier than me, every time they call."

Aureya grinned and winked at him:

"Almost."

His own grin widened at that, he gave a fake little huff, and called:

"On screen."

Over twenty faces, belonging to about one fifth of his closest family, squeezed close together and smiling from ear to ear, appeared on screen, and immediately broke into rather noisy greetings:

"Shrem, sweetheart!" His Ami.

"Honey, I'm so glad to see you." His Ame.

"Aureya, I hope he's feeding you well." His Dume… _always with the ladies._

"Are you wearing enough clothes?" Grandmother A'Rill, who, no matter how often he explained Earth temperatures to her, simply kept chucking out the old familiar lines.

"Where's the model flyer?" His little nephew Naren, whose head was bobbing up and down at the bottom of the screen.

"What time's it over there… and what season, for that matter?" His uncle Shrem, who he'd been named for, and who had a knack for always focusing on the relevant.

"Enough! Silence!... Focus!" His grandmother A'Rill again.

As expected, there was absolute compliance; one would have heard a pin drop. Even though she was Shrem's favourite out of his eight grandmothers, and was in fact the one who'd taught him how to cook and bake, A'Rill was a force to be reckoned with, their family's matriarch, and a retired General of the Imperial Guard.

"Shrem, my little snowflake, I have some wonderful news… You're coming to my birthday celebrations, aren't you?"

_Oh crap! He'd completely forgotten about that, how could he?... Well, there'd been Christine, and the Lennox Challenge… and Christine. Crap!_

"Ahm…"

"Where's your head these days? I reminded you twice." His Ami looked a little worried, so his Ame place a reassuring arm around her shoulder.

"We've had a hectic couple of weeks, Ms… ahm, I mean…"

Aureya was apparently trying to help him, but hit the usual problem of how to address anyone in his family.

"Just call them thing one and thing two… you know, like in that antique kiddies book you've got."

"Shrem, don't talk about your mothers like that." His Dumi's antennae were twitching, and he wore a crooked smile, so Shrem knew he wasn't really angry, but simply making a show of defending his wives' honour.

"'Just a joke, dad."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your little exchange… but you, my boy, are getting your butt here. I've found the perfect candidates for you, I want the four of you to meet."

_Oh fuck! No, no, no. Too soon… or too late… or just at exactly the wrong time! _

"Grandma, I…"

_How the hell was he going to say this? If he explained it properly, they'd probably let it go… and then they'd want to meet her… and it was way too early for that… they hadn't even talked yet… or fucked…ugh, she'd think that was crude…if this had happened sooner, he'd have accepted, and then what?... Shit!!!!…"_

"Ahm,… there's this girl…"

_Crap! Well, there wasn't really anything else for it._

"And?" His grandmother looked confused.

"Well… I sort of wanted to be in one of those Terran type relationships with her… and… well…"

One of his brothers, Sharn, snorted, and then began to laugh in earnest.

"Dude, that's sick." He spluttered.

"Oh, shut up."

"Just one girl?" His grandmother still seemed puzzled.

"Ahm… yea." Now he felt like a complete fool.

"Then how many grandchildren can I expect from you?... Is that even possible?… Where's A'Rey?"

He wanted to protest, and possible start to shriek, but his grandmother shushed him, as the entire group re-shuffled, and one of his sisters-in-law, who was a doctor, was pushed to the front and next to A'Rill.

"So, she's Terran?" A'Rey asked, all business.

Shrem just stared open-mouthed.

_Why, o why? _

"She sure is."

Aureya grinned widely, and Shrem could not suppress something akin to a growl.

"Well, with the right treatment of some hormonal supplements, and possibly some light fertility drugs, and a genetic scrambler, I don't see that it should be a problem… very manageable. And interspecies offspring has been shown to be of higher intelligence than average." A'Rey gave a professional little nod.

Aureya whispered a rather loud 'exhibit A' in his ear.

Shrem groaned.

"Still, if there's only two of you instead of four… well…"

Finally finding his voice, Shrem practically glared at his grandmother:

"Why are you talking about children? We're not anywhere near that! And…"

"So, you're telling me, that you're dismissing a rather phenomenal match I've arranged for you, even if I say so myself, for a woman you have no concrete plans with?"

_Ah crap… damn her!_

"How many more great-grandchildren do you want? Is there something wrong with the ones you've already got? Why the fuck do I need to mass reproduce?"

"You've said a bad word!" A tiny disembodied voice came from somewhere beyond the bottom of the screen.

_Balls!_

A'Rill lifted one of his nieces, and her namesake, A'Rill, who probably still wouldn't reach past his kneecap, off the floor, and scowled at him.

"I'm sorry, baby. I won't say it again."

"You'd better not." His grandmother told him, then continued unperturbed:

"And there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of my grandchildren or my great-grandchildren… that's precisely the point, they're wonderful, they are the light of my life… you can never have enough of a good thing… So: More!"

Shrem couldn't help but smile at her for this; unfortunately, it was precisely this moment his Ami decided to shove her way to the front of the crowd, and ask:

"So, my love, what about that girl?"

"Ahm… mum, it's sort of complicated… well, actually, no, it isn't… she's great, and…"

"Right, that's decided then… you're bringing her." His grandmother interrupted, her tone indicating that 'she had spoken'.

"No… absolutely not! She'd…. no!"

"Why not? Are you ashamed of us?" His Ami gave him that doleful look he absolutely could not handle.

"No… never! It's just… you're a lot to take in… and…"

Sharn snorted again, and quipped:

"And you're not?"

One of his wives and one of their sisters whacked him over the head simultaneously.

Shrem threw a death glare at his brother, then returned his attention to his Ami.

"She's sort of shy, and I don't really want to traumatise her, before…"

"What's 'shy'?" His grandfather Sharn, who his brother was named for, sounded as if he were trying to taste the word on his tongue, and attempting to retrieve its meaning that way.

Aureya burst out laughing, then muttered:

"Crap, I wished I had popcorn."

***

So, here he was… again, staring at Christine's door and feeling foolish. It was 1812 hours, and he knew she should be home. He hadn't called, but had decided to try and deal with it in person. He hoped her physical disposition was as unlike her mother's as the rest of her, or else she'd probably faint.

Finally pulling himself together enough to bleep her door, he took a deep breath, and told himself:

"No big deal… her family's horrible, yours is fucking crazy, but they're great… no big deal."

The door slid open, and he momentarily forgot what he'd been worrying about, as a stupid grin spread across his face.

"Hi."

"Hi."

She was smiling right back at him, her hair pulled back in one of her granny knot; she was wearing one of her frumpy shirts over grey pants, and somehow she looked so lovely, his brain refused to cooperate, so he just ended up repeating himself:

"Hi."

She laughed quietly and stepped back to make room for him to enter. He took two steps forward, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her straight on the lips. It was a little fumbly, and she laughed softly again, so he shrugged and figured he'd better do it over. Cupping the back of her head with one hand, while allowing the other to travel to the very lowest part of her back, he pulled her close, fused his mouth with hers, and didn't let her go until she made a maddening little sound in the back of her throat, and Shrem figured, if he didn't stop now, he probably wouldn't.

"Hi."

She breathed, looking completely flustered, and it was his turn to laugh.

"Is it OK that I'm here?… I wasn't too sure after yesterday… but we still need to talk… and…"

His grin had slipped a little as he'd grown more concerned, but Chris just shook her head:

"No, it's fine… I wanted to see you… and I wanted to talk… it's just been a weird day… and my morning was surreal…"

"Yea… mine too."

"Hm?"

"No… you first."

_Good, at least that would buy him some time to reorganise his thoughts._

"My parents sent a psychiatrist to do a full psych evaluation on me this morning… apparently they think I'm crazy."

"---"

"I know, tell me about it."

She gave him a rather bitter little smile at that, and he was now clenching his fists so tightly, that he thought he might break his own fingers.

"Oh, Buttercup… that's…"

He shook his head and just pulled her into his arms again to kiss the top of her head and tell her:

"I'm sorry, so sorry."

She turned a little, so that her face was against his neck, kissed the rather sensitive skin there, and told him:

"It's OK… because I had a bit of an epiphany."

"During your psychiatric evaluation?" He didn't intend for his voice to get quite so high, or to break on 'evaluation', but he did feel a little concerned by her words… and he wouldn't blame her if she'd had a mild break down after what her parents were putting her through.

"No," she laughed "last night… while screaming at them, and thinking about you."

"You screamed at them?"

"I think I was channelling Aureya, and possibly Noyota, too… it was… just…" She was grinning now, a rather noticeable glint of pride and achievement in her eyes.

He couldn't resist kissing her for that, cupping her face in his hands, and nipping at her lips a little more aggressively than he's planned; she sort of purred in response, and he had to remind himself, that, technically they were talking.

"…your epiphany?" His breath was coming in small pants, but he managed to disentangle himself from her, and made his way to the couch, plopped down, and looked at her expectantly.

"Tea? I even have red sugar."

She smiled, and he just grinned and nodded.

From the kitchen she asked him:

"Do you think I'm cold?"

She sounded strangely happy, not like she was worried about his answer in the slightest.

"I'm assuming we're not talking body temperature, since you're over 11 degrees warmer than me… ahm… So, no, I think you come across as that sometimes… but you're really not."

"What am I then?" She was carrying a tray with two cups, some sugar and a large teapot, and set it down on the small table in front of him. He poured tea for both of them, and felt a little puzzled; she was smiling at him.

"This isn't a trick question, is it?"

"No… if I trust anyone to give me an honest answer, it's you."

_Shrem briefly wondered how their conversation had landed here, but presumed that it wasn't entirely off topic, as long as he got to ask it back._

'You're sweet, and caring, when you allow yourself to be… too quiet for your own good, but you're getting better… much better… Ahm,… you're terribly insecure, and sometimes a little inflexible in your opinions, but only because you were raised that way… you don't really have any bad intentions towards anyone, and once you've managed to accept certain new concepts, you're adorable in your sincerity, and how you're trying to apply them… And you're incredibly smart,… and just a little scary when you get all indignant,… you're really straight laced, and too easily shocked… and you're beautiful… but mostly you're sweet."

Christine was just staring at him, her mouth open, and her eyes wide.

"Ah crap… what did I say wrong… you said you wanted me to be honest, so I was… what was the point of this exercise anyways?… And why the hell do I just do what you tell me?"

She was still staring, and he was beginning to panic about how to fix this, perhaps he should leave, he'd obviously insulted her, and he should probably regroup to figure out what he'd said wrong. Before he, however, even managed to get off the couch, Chris was scrambling onto his lap, all long limbs and still stunned expression, and the next thing he knew, her lips were on his, and she was kissing him with enough fervour to make his toes curl. He was battling the urge to just flip her over onto the couch and tear her clothes off there and then, he did, however, allow his hands to travel under her shirt and stroke the soft skin on her back. She made another one of those little sounds, and he moaned into her mouth.

'_Wait, wait, wait… You still have to tell her about this morning… and she'll freak… and if she doesn't, then that's just because she doesn't know your family… and if you do this now…'_

At that moment, his mind went blank, as Christine moved a little closer, and pressed herself down into his lap, where his very obvious reaction to what she was doing, approved by accelerating rather rapidly. Christine gave a little squeak, and scrambled backwards. Shrem, remembering his conversation with Aureya from that morning, caught her, and pulled her back towards him.

"Don't, baby… please… stay." His voice was soft, pleading; he didn't want to scare her any more.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I'm a grown woman… I shouldn't… I'm not scared, I'm just…"

Her face was beet red, and she looked up at him through her lashes with an expression of complete embarrassment, but she was still breathing heavily. He kissed her gently, mouth closed, then nuzzled her temple with his nose, and whispered into her ear:

"I promise it'll be OK… I'll be so good to you… Buttercup… so good… but we still need to talk."

She exhaled, and he could feel her body relax. To distract her further, he nuzzled her again and asked:

"What were you expecting me to say?"

"Well… my epiphany sort of what that I'm more like my brother and not like my parents… you know… warm… but yours was better."

She smiled sweetly at him.

"What about me then?"

"Huh?"

"What am I?"

"You're perfect."

She said it with such utter conviction, that he had to lean forward and kiss her again, still chastely, but with his mouth opened just a fraction.

"That's cheating, Sunshine."

"No… it's the truth."

She didn't smile this time, but looked quite determined; she took a deep breath, and told him:

"I'm so sorry I freaked out… it's one thing hearing about it… and another…" here she squinted, apparently willing herself to go on: "…feeling it." She almost mumbled the last part.

"I… I don't want you to think that I'm afraid of you… or… _it_…" here she looked a little sheepish: "and I'm not disgusted or anything… I… I just…"

"Shhhh, Buttercup, it's Ok… just come her."

He pulled her closer again, all the way back onto his lap, intentionally making her sit on their topic of discussion, and she sucked in an audible breath, as he pushed her down a little further.

"We're going to talk… nothing else… and in the meantime, you can sit here and get a little more accustomed to the idea of 'it'." He grinned at her, and she gave him a small embarrassed half-pout.

"Can I start?" She asked; there was that look of determination again, and he felt a little concerned by the fact that it just made him go harder, but Christine did not budge this time.

He simply nodded at her, and quickly placed a butterfly kiss on one corner of her mouth. She gave him a small startled smile, then took a deep breath, and began:

"I'm not sure what you expect out of this… but I know that you want to be with me…"

Here she looked between them rather pointedly, then wriggled a little in his lap, all the while blushing furiously. Shrem threw his head back and laughed; she was so clearly trying to atone for earlier.

She scowled at him a little, and he pouted:

"Sorry, Buttercup… go on."

"… and no matter how much I want to be with you… and I do, I mean, I really, really do… I can't do this if it's just… ahm… a thing… and I know that it's unfair to expect you to bend to my cultural expectations, when I don't bend to yours… it's just… well, mine aren't emotionally painful for you… and yours would be… and I'm not very good at sharing that kind of thing… at least, I think not… and…"

She was just so adorable, rambling like that, still a little flushed, and staring at his forehead, since she seemed too unnerved to look him in the eyes, that he just put one hand at the back of her neck, pulled her forward, and kissed her again… properly, this time.

When he pulled away, she looked at him a little dazedly, and he asked:

"So, we're talking about a committed monogamous relationship, right?"

"Ahm… yes…"

"OK, then… On that note: What are you doing the weekend after next?"

"Hm?"

**A/N:**

**Nerdy Notes: **

**In Half and Half, I calculated that it would take months to reach Vulcan (there are warp speed converters online), and decided I couldn't have my characters travel there, only to discover later… and that was daft on my part… that JJ obviously didn't bother with that nonsense, since it takes them a few minutes to get there in the movie… So, a weekend trip to Andoria should be movie canon, even if it isn't TOS canon.**

**Andorians are violent, passionate, art loving, and extremely family orientated… with a fierce honour code. It is an equal society… so A'Rill is a matriarch, but other families might have patriarchs. **

**I've extended the rather cryptic quote that an Andorian wedding requires 4 people, to include actual marriages. **

**Shrem is presumably not girly for his own society, since gender roles are outmoded. **

**I've made up the words to indicate his different parents:**

**His Ami and Dumi are his biological parents,**

**His Ame and Dume are the other two… most of his siblings would have any combination of the four… so, Shrem's Ami could be Sharn's Ame, wile his Dumi, could be Sharn's Dumi too… you get it.**


	16. Plastic Romanticism and Chronology

**A/N: I'm not even going to attempt an apology. I have no excuse, and since it's been so long, and all of this came out in one go, and it's a lot more explicit than I'm used to (or you're used to from me), I have no idea if it'll please. (I hope this qualifies as M, not NC17… I have read much worse, and I'm trying to be tasteful, but if it offends, please let me know)**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs nothing else.**

_**Christine**_

She'd packed twice; the first time she was still in shock after a shopping trip with Gaila, and had been on auto-pilot. When she'd finished, she'd been looking at her standard conference luggage: smart casual, professional, completely unsuitable, and outdated since she joined Starfleet. She had apparently packed a bag for a business trip connected to a job she hadn't done in over 8 months. The human brain was a truly baffling thing.

She should have known better than to accept an invitation to go shopping for 'frillies', as Gaila called them. Overwhelmed, and oddly pleased by the idea that she was finally fully included in that female ritual that was underwear shopping, she had forgotten who she was accompanying. Without the moderating influence of Aureya and Noyota, Gaila had simply gone wild.

"Oooooh, you should definitely get these, Chris." The younger woman had handed her a scrap of black lace that looked innocent enough on first inspection, but turned out to be a pair of crotchless panties when unfolded. Being the big idiot that she was, Christine had promptly dropped them with a gasp. Gaila was too far gone to notice, and while Christine scrambled to retrieve the offending item, had made more excited little girl noises, and proceeded to retrieve and subsequently dump some more outrageous lingerie in her lap. One set was a practically cup-less bra and a g-string made of red faux leather with metal pearls in a rather strategic position of the crotch. Christine had felt like crying.

_This has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done! What possessed you to go shopping for nice underwear with the woman who thinks sex is like a Halloween party?_

Then the most disconcerting thought yet had hit her: _But she'd know, wouldn't she? She's actually been with him. And you've heard them… __**regularly**__._ She had felt like she was minutes from beginning to rock backwards and forwards while moaning in pain. ' Oh God, oh God, oh God…' she'd just realised that 'the screamer' had had the higher pitched voice of Gaila's two former 'friends with benefits'.

_She was completely out of her depth here, what was she thinking? What was **he** thinking? _

As she'd carefully refolded the metal-studded red monstrosity in her hands, she had wondered if Shrem would actually expect something like that from her… and even if he didn't, since surely he must know her well enough to understand that she just wasn't… well…

"I'm sorry, Gaila, I don't feel well." She'd rushed past the somewhat surprised and concerned looking woman, and had intentionally made her own way back to campus, at one point even hiding from the young Orion as she waited for the shuttle bus.

When she'd returned to her room, she had turned around her own axis at least four times, and then, without actually deciding to do so, had begun packing her bag… her 'I'm going to a bio-chemistry conference for a weekend' bag.

When her mental faculties had finally rejoined the rest of her, she had stared at the still open suitcase, pressed her hands to her face and cried in earnest.

Her brain had apparently sought refuge in the old familiar, in the boring, in the life she used to have and never realised she hated.

She had phoned Aureya then. She had no idea why; she was much closer to Noyota and Lily, had barely spent time alone with the younger woman, and the fact that she was half Orion… which currently was not a good thing… meant that she should have been the last person she wanted to see right now, with one, or possibly two exceptions.

She had been so incoherent via the com, that Eya had simple answered with:

"I'll be right there."

And when she'd arrived, Christine, who'd calmed down marginally in the time between the call and the other woman's arrival, had taken one look at her and had begun to bawl again.

"I can't… I just can't do… and now I hate Gaila…" Had been the first coherent words she'd managed. Aureya had taken her by the hand like a wayward child, led her to her couch and made her sit down; then she'd gotten her a glass of wine from the fridge, and Christine had promptly downed the whole lot.

Still sniffling rather inelegantly, she'd looked up at the worried expression of the younger woman standing over her with her hands on her hips, and managed something approaching sense at last:

"I went shopping with Gaila… for underwear. I'm such a fool. I don't know how this happened… Gaila was just being Gaila… and then it suddenly hit me… and… I had problems studying when I moved in here first… because they were being so _loud_… I… I."

Aureya had sat down next to her and taken her hand, rubbing her thumb over Christine's knuckles in what had been an oddly comforting, even if somewhat intimate gesture of support.

"I'm not stupid… I mean I know they used to have sex… obviously. I just never really thought about it, or what it means. And then Gaila shoved this horrible set of… ugh…" She'd taken a shaky breath at the thought. "She probably wore stuff like that for him… and she probably did things… and… he had Gaila… and now he has to make do with me."

Aureya still had not said a word, but the look on her face spoke of neither agreement nor contradiction, she'd simply looked patient, as if she'd known Christine had not quite finished yet.

"And then I came home, and packed a bag… to go to a conference… there is no conference… I'm finally going crazy… maybe my parents were right."

She had looked at her knees at this, then jumped slightly when there was a bleep at her door, followed by a tentative knock:

"Chris? Are you home yet?" Christine had winced slightly and had glaced pleadingly at Aureya. The younger woman had looked sympathetic and had said not a single word. There had been an audible huff from beyond the door, then footsteps and the bleep of another door opening and closing. Christine had felt awful, Gaila'd sounded truly worried.

"Oh God… what am I doing?"

"Vulcans have rather odd mating habits." Christine had looked up suddenly at that. Aureya had been looking past her towards the window, her voice slightly amused, but not overly emotional, and the sheer randomness of the comment had caused Christine to finally stop crying.

"And I've never been with anyone but Spock… and he was rather insistent at the beginning about me not being with him either, for that matter. And I think he thought I ought to be scared… I just never managed to bring myself to be… certainly not in his company."

At this the young woman had looked at Christine, then had slid her soft grey jersey off one shoulder to show her a scar just were her clavicle ended and her shoulder began, it was quite obviously a bite-mark.

"I've kept this one on purpose… it was the deepest and most likely to scar after the first time."

Christine hadn't been too sure what to say about that, so she'd gone with the first thing that came to mind:

"I walked in on you once… in your bathroom."

"Hmmm, … yea, I know."

They'd both been quiet for a moment before Aureya had spoken again:

"Sex is a weird thing… it's almost like an emotion, rather than an activity… there are so many types, and no discernable way to determine which one's better, or more important, or right. In that way it's a lot like love. I love my dad, my friends, Starfleet,… more than anything I love Spock, but just because I love him the most, that does not mean I love my father any less. I mean, I've only ever had one kind of sex… the one where you're madly in love and all that trash… but I know other people have fun sex, and silly sex, no-stings-attached sex and… well, you know. What I'm trying to say is that you can't compare one to the other… and while we're on the subject of love and sex in combination, you have no idea what you would or wouldn't do… you might surprise yourself… I did."

She'd given a small thoughtful huff at this, then had asked:

"What's it like when it's just the two of you… do you worry about all this… are you scared then?"

"No." Christine's voice had felt rough in her mouth "But I don't think about red leather underwear when we're alone."

"I'm pretty sure Shrem doesn't either, sweetie… probably more along the lines of you sans _any_ clothing." Aureya'd finally smiled – one of her wicked little grins – and gotten up to retrieve the bottle of wine from the fridge and to grab another glass for herself.

"Half a glass each, and then we're going to get you some underwear… I'll even buy some too,… though mine always gets torn to shreds first time I wear it… oh well, I think he still appreciates it." She'd actually winked at her at that.

So, here she was. With her second attempt of luggage still open in front of her, and a pale grey set of satin lingerie in her hand.

"Buy it for yourself, not for him… I've heard my fair share of guy talk, and from what I can deduce, men essentially like their women naked. Women, well, sex is mostly in the head for them, so get something that makes you feel good, pretty…"

Christine had gone with Aureya's advice, and now was simply left with the question of whether to pack the set or wear it now, suck up her issues and march over to Shrem's and Eya's place and invite herself over for the night. She knew Aureya would not be there (dark blue lace bra with matching briefs). She briefly wondered if she should plan something a bit more elaborate, or if she should wait for him to plan something more elaborate, or if she…

_Oh for heaven's sake! You've been a wuss about this all your life. Do you really want fake clichés, and plastic romanticism. For once in your life take matters into your own hands, be a grown woman and act your age. Do you want candlelight and roses and all that nonsense or do you simply want him?... Well then, put on those panties and go get him._

Strangely enough, this time her brain had simply sounded like a very determined version of herself.

* * *

"Hi."

"Hi."

_Well, this was oddly familiar._

He looked somewhat shy as he moved to allow her to enter his quarters, but smiled as if he was incredibly pleased to see her. His hair was a little dishevelled, and she knew he had a propensity to run his fingers through it when he was studying. He wore dark trousers and his grey undershirt, but his feet were bare.

"You have lovely feet."

Christine could feel herself blush; she wanted to admonish herself for saying something stupid, but simply couldn't.

_It's true… so why would it be stupid._

Shrem gave a small snort, half surprise and half amusement, then looked at her like she'd paid him the greatest compliment imaginable.

_That settles it then._

As the door slid shut behind Christine, she stepped closer to him, lifted onto the tips of her toes, wound her arms around his neck and kissed him – hard. He seemed a little startled at first, but didn't take too much time to recover and respond enthusiastically. When she pulled back her head to gulp in some air, he was looking at her with something akin to wonder, and she couldn't help herself, she said the first thing that came into her mind:

"You're lovely all over."

She didn't give him a chance to respond but simply put her lips to his again. His hands moved to her waist and he half pulled and half lifted her closer, pressing her into the rather considerable bulk of his body. Her hands slid up his back, over his shoulders and neck, and into his hair, as she raked her fingers upwards, she brushed one of his antennae and he whimpered loudly and pulled back.

"I'm so sorry… did I hurt you?... I know they're sensitive." She suddenly felt a little less certain of herself… Shrem didn't even know about her plan yet, and she had already messed up.

"No, Buttercup, they're just _really_ sensitive." There was an odd quality to the way he said that, and he was flushed and breathing heavily, and sudden realisation hit her like a freight train.

"Oh God, I'm going to kill Bones."

"No you won't." The words were a mere growl near her temple, and the next thing she knew, Shrem had hauled her towards him again, this time somewhat less gentlemanly by sliding his large hands from her hips and placing them on her bum, and was kissing her with a desperation she had not felt from him before.

_Touch antenna, touch antenna, touch antenna._

Her brain was veritably chanting at her now. She slid her hands back into his hair, and this time consciously caressed one of the slender blue appendages, mindful to be as gentle as she could be. Shrem moaned – loudly; then squeezed her bum rather brazenly and ground his erection into her stomach while bending her almost double with the ferocity of his kiss. She could feel a small shock run through him as if sudden realisation of his actions had come upon him, and he pulled away, panting heavily and averting his eyes:

"Buttercup… please… you can't do that… I won't be able to control…"

Christine's fingers were shaking slightly as she reached for the hem or her pale blue T-shirt. Shrem's eyes went wide and his mouth opened in shock.

"Buttercup…"

_Right then._

Christine yanked the shirt over her head a little too roughly, and one of her hairclips got caught in it. She ended up tucking on the silly thing, and some strands fell out of their neat bun and into her face when she finally won her tug of war with her shirt and threw it on the floor.

_You complete and utter moron! Well done… unbelievably sexy… the incredible shirt wrangling woman._

She couldn't look at Shrem. She felt like a fool, and was now becoming increasingly insecure.

_Oh, for heaven's sake, you've only taken your shirt off, the man had seen plenty of bras in his life… and… that was precisely the problem, wasn't it_? Part of the reason why she was not looking at him was the fact that any hint of disappointment in his eyes would simply kill her.

_**Shrem**_

He couldn't breathe. He was somewhere between painfully aroused and giddy with happiness… and possibly moments from disgracing himself and coming in his pants… again.

She was looking at the floor to her right, her cheeks flushed, her breathing heavy, making the loose strands of her hair dance around her face and her satin clad breasts heaved noticeably. He moaned, his voice quite beyond his control at this stage, and tentatively reached out towards her. His fingers moved over the smooth skin of her stomach almost reverently as he curled his hand around her waist and pulled her towards him.

"I promise you I'll let you touch them as much as you want, but not tonight… I really don't want to lose control today… I'd much rather know exactly what I'm doing."

She looked at him then, her cheeks still flushed and her eyes wide in the most adorable expression he'd seen on her face yet.

"I'm not scared of you." It was almost a whisper, but full of honest determination.

"I know, Sunshine."

And just like that his control was back. There was no way in hell he'd not do his damndest to make this good for her… he'd promised her, after all. Leaning down, he captured her lips again, and she opened to him eagerly, surprising him once again by the fact that she really seemed rather determined about this whole thing. He managed to turn them both around and manoeuvred her backwards towards his bed. His enthusiasm did get the better of him a little, as she hit the edge of his bed a bit too hard and flopped down backwards with a small squeak, blushing furiously again and mumbling an embarrassed 'sorry'.

"For what?"

"For not being as sexy as I'm sure you're used to." She looked mortified but dead serious.

"… ah… what?... Buttercup, that's the stupidest thing I've heard in my life… what?… you are by far… oh hell, I'd better show you…"

Slipping off his own shirt, he crawled over her and kissed the half embarrassed half sulky frown off her lips. After some time her timid fingers began to caress his chest shyly, stroking gently from his shoulders to his abdomen, occasionally brushing his nipples and making him suck in a sharp breath.

_Not sexy my ass._

He, in turn, kissed down her throat, over her shoulder, and towards the delicate swells of her breasts and along the shimmery material that held them confined. It was pretty and all, but he really needed it off… now.

Squeezing one hand between her and the mattress, the managed to flick open the clasp and wasting no time, slid the obstructive garment off her arms. There was a small mule of protest from Christine, but he knew it was simply her shyness kicking back in. He swatted her hands away as she tried to cover herself, and captured one nipple with his mouth while taking the other breast into his hand and kneading gently. Better not give her too much time to get self-conscious.

Her tits were perfect, like he'd known they would be. Not quite big enough to fill his large hands, firm, pale, and adorned with the most delicate pink nipples he had ever seen. He could not help a small growl and a tentative nip at the little pebble currently in his mouth. Christine moaned quietly and arched off the bed and into his mouth.

There was suddenly much more urgency and purpose to his actions. Keeping his lips blissfully occupied where they were, he moved his hands towards her trousers and unfastened them. He expected some form of protest, but Christine seemed barely aware of what he was doing below her waist, she was so focused on his mouth on her breast. Shrem grinned and looked up to see her head thrown back and her eyes closed. He slid her trousers down her long legs, all the while keeping his eyes on hers, and she finally looked at him, blushing adorably but giving him a tentative smile none the less.

He smiled back, then slid his fingers into the soft material of her knickers and pulled them gently down her legs. She did not protest this either, but her knees were firmly pushed together and her eyes had darted away from his as her blush deepened. He stroked his fingers over her belly and towards the neat triangle of pale gold curls and felt her stomach muscles twitch.

"Buttercup, look at me."

Her eye met his and there was another hesitant little smile.

"Open for me."

She let out a long breath and then obeyed, still looking into his eyes, and he felt his smile widen. When he moved to kiss the inside of her thighs, however, her legs rather suddenly and firmly snapped shut again.

"No."

Christine looked somewhat panicked.

"What's wrong, Sunshine… I'm good at this, I promise."

She looked even more alarmed at that, and he cursed inwardly for implying that he had done this rather more often than she would like.

"It's just that I don't… I mean I've never… or rather no one… I'd be too embarrassed… you don't find it… uhm… distasteful?"

He could feel a positively feral grin spread across his lips and an excited flutter take residence in his stomach. His fingers itched to glide up her thighs and spread her wide for him.

"Please, Buttercup. Let me show you." There was a distinct note of begging to his voice, but he didn't care.

She looked so uncertain, almost weary, as if he was intent upon something unpleasant for her. She really had no idea. Rather reluctantly, she parted her legs again and studied him with a mixture of scepticism and mild trepidation.

He took his time, teasing her by kissing all the way towards her sex, then breathing on it gently and moving back towards her knee. Five minutes into this she seemed entirely unaware that she had ever had reservations, and was wreathing prettily beneath him. He took a moment to study her: her hair, now completely loose and fanned out across his pillow, her tall slender form spread wantonly on his sheets. His heart felt too large to fit in his chest, and his arousal gave a rather impatient twitch. Deciding that he had teased enough, Shrem went straight for the prize, putting his mouth to the soft flesh of her sex, and was rewarded with a startled squeak, which turned rather rapidly into increasingly less suppressed moans.

"Oh Shrem…. I didn't… I… Oh God…"

He brought his hands into play, trying to arouse and stretch her as much as possible before taking that final step. She was expectedly tight, and tensed around his finger when he first entered her. Further attention from his tongue and lips, however, made her relax and even begin to move with his fingers.

"Oh Buttercup, I'd love to make you come like this… but I really need… I want to be inside you… I…"

He felt guilty and simultaneously incredibly pleased with himself. Here was a woman who claimed she didn't like sex, and she was wreathing and moaning against him and he could tell it would take so very little to push her over the edge, but there was a possessive and rather animalistic part to him that did not want that honour to go the his mouth or hands.

"Yes, oh God yes… please." She was looking at him with and expression of naked need, her eyes were glazed and her breathing laboured, and he had to force himself not to shove her down and just push into her.

He claimed her lips with his, and despite where they had been, she licked and nipped at them eagerly.

_Oh yes, he'd managed to scramble her brain._

Distracting her with his kisses, he unfastened and shoved down his own trousers, mindful not to let her see his erection; it wouldn't do to freak her out now, she was aroused and ready for him, but she was still likely to develop doubts if she was faced with the crude reality of precisely what he was trying – rather desperately – to push into her body.

Deciding that the approach usually recommended for virgins was probably the safest bet, Shrem lifted her hips a little, positioned himself and entered her carefully but quickly. They both gasped.

Holding still, Shrem squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, willing himself not to move.

"Oh, Sunshine… oh holy… oh."

At this she arched her back and pressed more fully into him, then surprised him by grasping his face tenderly between her slender fingers and kissing him passionately. Pulling back she looked up with an expression of nothing short of adoration:

"It's alright Shrem,… please."

His willpower crumbled like a sandcastle in the surf, and burying his face in her neck he allowed himself to move. She was heaven… there was no other way of putting it. She was an angel, she was perfect, she was everything he had ever wanted in his bed and outside it and he wasn't entirely sure what that meant. She clung to him desperately, moaning his name and shaking her head while muttering "I didn't know… I didn't know…" He wanted to lick, bite and suck every inch of her skin and made a rather conscientious effort to do just that. And when he felt her walls flutter around him, saw her arch back and heard her positively scream his name, he thought he'd be able to die right there and then and he wouldn't care. His eyes rolled back and his last bit of control shattered as he pushed into her those final few times almost brutally, and as he spilled inside her, he practically howled her name; not 'Buttercup', not 'Sunshine', but 'Christine'.

_**Christine**_

He collapsed on top of her; panting, and sweaty, and too heavy for her skinny frame, and she loved it; the weight of him, the feel of his naked damp skin made her giddy, and she couldn't help herself and licked at a small rivulet of sweat on his neck. He groaned, rolled them to the side and pulled her closer.

"I was scared to ask before… just in case you changed your mind… but what brought this on?" He was stroking wayward strands of hair from her face and then bent closer to place a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Well, we're leaving tomorrow, and I wasn't sure how odd I would feel about meeting your parents without… well… it just seemed to be a bit mixed up… chronologically… and…"

"I could have made dinner, and well, made it special…"

"You don't think it was special?" There was a sharp pain in her chest and she could feel her eyes sting with a sudden rush of tears.

_Wonderful… post-coital depression… never had that before… well, obviously…_

"No, no… Bollocks, please don't cry… this was the most amazing… I mean you are… I… I'm pretty certain I'm in love with you… and on a related issue… that was the best sex of my life… and I think we can do even better… and… I just thought you might have wanted flowers… and stuff…"

Her heart just about flew out of her mouth at his bumbling confession, she grinned like a lunatic, kissed him rather sloppily and told him:

"I'm pretty certain I'm in love with you too… and I didn't want flowers and stuff, I wanted you."


	17. Andoria I

**A/N: So, on with the actual plot… I'm not sure how the lemony stuff went down… and there will be a little more in this… I'm always a bit unnerved by writing that sort of thing, simply because I find it a tad formulaic… if you don't want to go down the odd and kinky route… and that was not an option in the last chapter (There would have been a Christine shaped whole in the wall). It's rather hard to be original when you've really only got so many actions to cover, and only so much vocabulary to choose from. (I've seen some weird stuff… I mean, I wasn't going to refer to Christine's nether parts as her 'feminine haven' or her 'womanly wetness'… wow, those thingies always make me laugh). Maybe you could let me know what your preferred plot to smut ratio is (ahm, no plot is not an option, but no more smut certainly is, I could do things by implication). So, not sure who's still reading this, I'm certain lots of people have moved on… oh well, I've only myself to blame (writer's block sucks). An extra special THANK YOU to DemonicBrat13, MJ, ****Fernsfairie (plus Shrem the teddy)****, Lady Reva, and RegisteredCompanion42, MYP, and Dean's Leather Jacket for reviewing. **

**Anyways, enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, nothing else.**

She woke slightly sore, awkwardly twisted and cramped into not enough space, with something very heavy and lukewarm draped over her waist, and with the most ridiculous grin on her face. It took her a moment to put all the pieces together. Pushing back into the solid wall of equally lukewarm muscle behind her experimentally, she was rewarded with a muffled groan and a tightening of what morning light revealed to be a pale blue arm curled possessively around her middle. Her stupid grin just got wider.

There was another groan, and then the feel of cool lips on the back of her neck.

"'Morning, Buttercup."

Christine wriggled around, careful not to fall off the rather narrow bed, and came face to face with a sleep tousled and smiling Shrem.

"Good morning."

"You fell asleep on me last night." He gave her a little pout, but then kissed her nose and grinned wickedly.

"I thought that's how it works… ehm… sex, then sleep…" She'd meant her statement to be funny, but it simply sounded insecure and a little confused.

Shrem snorted, then laughed that high pitched giggle of his she had come to find so endearing.

"That's not how it works with me, Buttercup… I was expecting seconds… and possibly thirds… with cuddles in between, but you were out like a light."

"Oh."

Christine felt like a fool again.

_She thought she'd done rather well… under the circumstances. Now it turned out she'd been less than sufficient… clearly leaving him disappointed and… unsated?... what a horrid word._

She knew her eyes had gone wide with worry again, and she'd tensed her mouth in an expression of concentrated thought, so she was a little surprised to hear Shrem giggle again.

"I'm only teasing, Sunshine… well, I wouldn't have minded going again… but it was perfect, and we have all the time in the world… and don't look so upset."

To give his words a little more clout, he pulled her into him and placed butterfly kisses alternately at the corners of her mouth, then carefully reached out with his tongue to run it along her bottom lip, clearly asking for entrance.

Christine could feel her belly tighten and her head go a little woozy, but she managed to turn her head aside:

"I've got to brush my teeth, and… hmmf…"

Shrem had pulled her head back to him, then had quickly rolled on top of her, and was now kissing her rather less gently than he had a moment earlier. Christine tried to be disciplined and insist on freshening up, but what was intended to be a slightly indignant huff, turned into a silly, wanton little purr.

_She was pathetic. One tumble and she turned into a brainless hussy… wonderful!_

As Shrem made his way down the side of her neck, she managed an already slightly breathless:

"What time's it?"

"Early."

* * *

_Liar._

She rushed into her Friday morning Intro M&L just ahead of Pavel, who gave her an odd little smile and a raised eyebrow, as he passed her.

_What? Uniform out of place? She'd checked in the turbo lift. Hair dishevelled? What?_

She tried to worry about it, just as she tried to focus on what the young Russian at the lectern was saying, but all she appeared to be capable of, was smiling like a demented fool and blushing furiously at regular intervals, while replaying the events of the previous night and that morning over and over again.

She'd thought it would bother her that Shrem was so vocal; it had embarrassed her to hear his loud moans and almost shrieks coming from the room across the hall all those months ago, but she found the experience, when she was actually there with him, strangely empowering. The fact that he seemed a good bit louder, and decidedly more out of control with her, pleased her to no end.

She was still too uptight, she knew that, still likely to fall back into self-conscious uncertainty at the smallest incentive, but there was a distinct new sense of power, of self-assurance, that had not been there before.

And she believed Shrem when he said they could do better. And they would.

She could feel an almost wicked grin spread across her face as she stared blankly into space, remembering the frantic little howls Shrem had treated her to this morning.

There was a sound of a throat being cleared beside her, and as she looked to her right, she saw a line of standing cadets, eager to leave their seats. Looking back towards the front, she noticed that Pavel was gone.

_Ah.

* * *

_

She almost walked into Aureya outside the turbo lift on her way to her quarters. They simply smiled at each other stupidly, blushed, got on the lift, then stared and smiled some more. There was something truly odd about knowing that you were up to the exact same thing the previous night. Their grins kept getting bigger, until they simultaneous burst out laughing. Christine recovered first and pointed at Eya:

"You've got something on your lip." She indicated the small bruise just beside Aureya's scar.

"Yea, well you've got something on you neck."

Christine's hand flew up to the side Aureya had indicated, and with an almost scared gasp she asked:

"Oh Goodness, what?"

Eya just burst out laughing again.

"Calm down, Chris… no need to look like a cricket… it's just a hickey."

Christine could feel her cheeks grow hot and buried her face in her hands, moaning in embarrassment.

"I've been walking around with it on show all morning."

"Good for you." Aureya grinned, and Christine huffed; then remembered something rather important:

"Thank you for yesterday."

They'd reached their floor by now and were making their way towards Gaila's and Christine's apartments respectively.

"You're very welcome, I'm happy I could help."

"I'm not sure why I called you,... um… but I'm glad I did."

"Well, I suppose you thought the others were too experience and well versed… or something…"

"I didn't know you'd only been with… well, I had an idea… so perhaps… "

Christine felt a little silly.

_What were they? The Inexperienced Women's Sex Support Society? Had her subconscious decided to ask Aureya for help because it had sensed she'd be the most likely to understand?_

"I take it things went well?"

Christine simple smiled like a loon again and felt her cheeks suffuse with heat.

"Don't worry, I won't ask about details… and on that note, I don't blame you for letting Gaila freak you out… she sort of used to creep me out too, and I never had to deal with the mental image of her and Spock naked together… ugh… Curie's cunt… I've just gone and done it… great!"

Christine had to laugh a little at that, but then suddenly turned rather glum.

"'You going to see Gaila?"

"Yea, you want to come… or are you in a hurry? You're leaving for Andoria today, right?"

"I am… ehm… we are, but not until this afternoon, and I think I had better talk to Gaila before things get more complicated and awkward."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

In the end, Christine simply hugged Gaila; a rather unusually affectionate action for her, and told her:

"I'm sorry, I panicked. It won't happen again, but I don't want to talk about Shrem and sex with you for a while… I'm sorry… is that ok?"

"What did I do now? Was it something I said?" The Orion woman looked concerned and a little hurt.

"No… yes… not really. I just… it was only yesterday that I fully realised that you used to have sex with Shrem… and now I'm having sex with him and… it's just…"

"You _are_?... Oooooooh… finally! What was it like? Did you -"

"Gaila."

The younger woman had started to flap around like an excited bird, her blue eyes wide and her red curls bouncing all over the place.

"But…" She was pouting now.

"I just need some time… OK? Give me a chance to feel confident about this… to… I don't know… make it my own?... please… we can talk about Jim and sex if you're that desperate." Christine managed to smile at the younger woman and heard Aureya snort from the couch:

"You'll regret that offer."

"I understand… I _think_." Gaila still looked a little hurt, and very disappointed, but she clamped her lips shut and mimed locking them:

"I get it… and when you're ready to talk, you'll tell me… OK?... We're still friends, though, right?" She looked so genuinely worried, and had that irrefutably endearing little-green-girl-lost look about her, that Christine hugged her again.

_They were really getting to her… she was becoming as touchy feely as the rest of them._

"Of course we are. I'll come over Monday evening… if you're not busy, and tell you all about the trip… minus the ehm… well, I don't know if there'll be any,… his family's there and… but… ehm… well…"

"Awww, you're so cute." Gaila reached up and petted the top of her head.

"Oh, shut up."

Aureya snorted again.

* * *

"So if I call your other mother by the wrong name… is she going to be insulted?... Ugh… 'other mother' sounds wrong… and what if I get your siblings and their spouses mixed up?... or…"

"Buttercup… deep breaths… stop worrying… you're acting as if they're going to jump a P'Grell family history pop quiz on you the moment you step off the shuttle."

Shrem wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and stroked his thumb over the spot on her throat where only three hours ago Christine had sported a rather impressive red and purple bruise.

"I haven't forgive you for letting me leave with that yet."

She tried to scowl at Shrem, but his wide smile and the rather distractingly intimate caress at her neck kept her too boneless to manage anything beyond a slightly wrinkled nose.

"Ah crap, you're too cute for your own good, you know that?" Shrem followed that declaration with a small growl and a rather heated kiss… too heated for a public place like the shuttle taking them from the USS Intrepid to below the surface of Andoria.

Pulling away and blushing furiously while studying her knees, Christine could not help the small smile that insisted on surfacing quite in spite of herself. Shrem kissed her temple gently and whispered in her ear:

"Look outside, Buttercup."

Christine sucked in an audible breath:

"Oh… it's beautiful… I've seen pictures… but…"

Before the backdrop of the huge ringed gas giant which it circled, the almost pearlescent whiteness of Andoria looked breathtaking and otherworldly. As the shuttle entered the atmosphere, Christine could see the endless ice-covered expanse of land, but it was after they'd entered and then once again exited the wide access tunnel to take them to the Intergalactic port of the planet's capital, that she truly understood why Andoria was a popular holiday destination.

Spanning a huge cavern from floor to ceiling, glittering metallic blue and opaque white buildings traversed the space like stalactites and stalacmites, creating a vast underground city.

Christine had packed warm, she knew that the outside temperature could kill within minutes unless one was equipped properly, but she also knew that the geothermal energy used to heat the inside spaces, was sufficient to create an atmosphere comfortable enough to go without any extreme measures, even if it was somewhat cool for a warm blooded, badly insulated Terran; woolly jumpers and thick socks would be all that was required. She could see evidence of the geothermal energy all around, as warm light and small columns of steam hinted at the hidden world beneath the metal and glass shell of the city.

""You like?" Shrem whispered, still nuzzling the side of her face.

"Understatement."

* * *

They made their way through the rather busy terminal. Christine was wrapped up in four layers of clothing and was sure she was waddling.

While most of the people milling about were Andorian, she spotted quite a number of Vulcans, Tellarites and even a few other Terrans.

As they approached the arrivals hall, Shrem squeezed her hand and winked at her:

"Prepare yourself for the barbarian hordes, Buttercup."

With that, he pulled her through the large sliding doors, and then quickly moved towards a group of about 40 people who'd all begun to smile and wave as soon as they'd spotted them.

_What have I done? Why am I here?_

"Snowflake!" A tall older woman, her silver white hair falling down her back in soft waves, was the first to step towards them and to embrace Shrem an proceed to squeeze as if to rid his lungs of all oxygen. Shrem hugged back and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"And this must be your Christine."

Before Christine could respond, or even blush at being called 'your Christine' for that matter, the woman had grabbed her and was now pressing her to her tall form with as much fervour as she had done to Shrem.

"Welcome, welcome." She beamed at her.

Shrem stepped up behind the older woman, and with a smile that appeared to be one of pride, he told Christine:

"This is my grandmother A'Rill, she is the head of our family."

Christine tried to speak, she really and truly did, but she simply fell back to the old familiar and blushed… then willed herself to smile shyly.

The older woman didn't seem to mind, however, and stepped back to allow the others, who'd been crowding around, clearly trying to get closer to Shrem and Christine, to begin their greetings.

"Sweetheart, it's been too long." A beautiful, middle-aged woman with Shrem's eyes wrapped her arms around him and he leaned down to allow her to cover his face in little kisses. When she was done, she proceeded to embrace Christine and kissed both her cheeks.

"Ami, this is Christine. Buttercup, this is my mother, Thoria."

The entire thing was repeated over and over again. First there were Shrem's parents, besides his Ami Thoria, there was his Ame Sarin, who was as beautiful as Thoria, but decidedly shorter and curvier, his Dumi Eris, who was as tall and broad-shouldered as Shrem, and whose smile unnerved her because it was exactly the same as his. Shrem's Dume was a little stockier, but almost as tall, and he winked at her and told her she was a 'gorgeous little thing'.

"Don't mind him, he likes the ladies." Shrem whispered in her ear. She didn't see how that was any comfort, but since his second father had not been creepy but simply sweet, she didn't really mind.

Then there were siblings, and siblings-in-law, aunts and uncles, cousins, more grandparents, and an innumerable amount of nieces and nephews. Christine felt dizzy.

"Right, that's enough." A'Rill peeled Christine out of the arms of one of Shrem's cousins, another tall, rather striking looking woman, and petted her cheek.  
"Are you alright, my sweet? It's a little overwhelming, isn't it? 'Not so many people in your family, I suppose?"

"Seven… ehm, well, now there's only six… my parents, one uncle, two grandmothers, and me." Christine was a little disorientated, so she answered in a quiet monotone.

A'Rill looked positively disturbed.

"Well, no wonder you're so skinny and quiet… you've probably never been taken care of properly."

There was the rather distinct implication of "we'll fix that" in the older woman's statement, and Christine wondered if it was prudent to start worrying _right_ _now_.

Shrem simply beamed at her, then draped his arm around her on one side, and around his Ami on the other, and asked:

"Home?"

"Home." A'Rill confirmed and strode ahead.

* * *

"So, we've put a bigger bed in your room and turned up the heating." Eide, one of Shrem's aunts, told them, as she led them into Shrem's room.

"I suppose you're used to the heat at this stage, Puppy, so we figured this would be most suitable for Christine."

She smiled broadly at both of them, then turned to leave:

"I'll let you unpack."

With that, she swept out the door and it slid closed behind her.

Christine laughed softly.

"What?"

"'Puppy.'"

"You haven't heard anything yet… my family is big into nicknames."

"I've noticed."

"Have you now, my Buttercup?"

He stepped closer to her and gently kissed her lips.

Christine smiled, then took a step back and wrinkled her nose a little:

"Now I'm too warm… I think I'm overdressed."

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree."

Christine laughed again.

"I'm wearing thermal underwear, a frumpy pullover, and woolly socks… I doubt they'll get your blood pumping."

"Hmmm… too late, already happening."

Shrem opened the fastenings of Christine's anorak, slid it off her shoulders then kissed her neck.

"Shrem."

He manoeuvred her back towards the large bed, and Christine tried to protest again.

"Shrem… I'm not sure… your family… lots of family…"

She managed to pull away at that thought:

"How much family exactly? This place is enormous… and somehow I get the feeling that the welcome committee wasn't everyone."

Shrem pouted a little, but then stated:

"92… the _welcome committee_ was just under half."

"Oh my word… what have I gotten myself into?"

Shrem laughed, then kissed her with a little more insistence and grasped the hem of her jumper.

Christine tried to protest again, but her little mule of complaint stuck in her throat when Shrem pulled off the offending garment, then gave her a little shove backwards onto the bed, and began to strip – slowly.

"Ehm…"

"Yes Buttercup?"

Shrem purred, and looked far too smug, no doubt due to the somewhat dreamy expression, which Christine was sure had currently commandeered her face.

Shrem was down to his dark trousers, and nothing else, when he leaned forward and began to crawl over her.

"… um… unpack?..."

Christine managed, a little distractedly.

"Later."

He bent down and removed her shoes, then moved further up and unfastened and pulled off her trousers. She raised her hips to assist him.

_You're useless… and shameless, for that matter… do you have to make it so easy for him._

This particular inner voice sounded suspiciously like her mother, so she didn't feel too bad about ignoring it.

Only problem was, now she really was down to dark blue, long sleeved, long legged thermal underwear and fuzzy green socks.

_Wonderful!_

She averted her eyes and felt silly.

Shrem crawled back over her, and when she looked up, his smile held such sweetness and affection, she couldn't help but smile back.

His broad, bare chest was too inviting, and she leaned up and placed three tiny kisses along his sternum.

"Hmmm, 'my Christine.'" He moaned, then moved her further up the bed and kissed her.

He seemed in no rush, and simply wound his large body around hers and explored every crevice of her mouth. Christine could not help the small noises that appeared to escape her throat quite without permission, and which were invariably answered by small growls and moans from Shrem. His hands slipped under her shirt, and as he pulled it up, Christine obligingly lifted her arms, which earned her another sweet smile. Her 'long-johns' were quick to follow, and she now felt even more ridiculous, wearing navy cotton underwear and… yes, still, fuzzy socks. Shrem was kissing along her collar-bone and reaching for the clasp of her bra, when Christine managed to pant:

"… um… socks."

Shrem looked down at her feet, then gave her a wicked little grin, and answered:

"hmmmm… yea… socks…" before unclasping her bra, slipping it off, and kissing one of her nipples carefully.

In the end they were the last thing to come off. Christine wanted to feel embarrassed about lying splayed on a bed with nothing but fluffy green socks on, but as Shrem kissed his way down one of her legs and teased off the first sock while placing open mouthed kisses on the arch of her foot, she found it impossible to do so; she arched off the bed and moaned instead.

She was now fully naked, while Shrem was still wearing his trousers, making his way back up towards her, and it suddenly occurred to Christine that she had not actually seen _it_ yet. Shrem had managed to hide it so far. A rather uncharacteristic giggle escaped her.

"What?"

"…pfft… hide it..." she muttered.

"Huh?"

"You think I'm afraid of the big blue monster."

Shrem looked adorably clueless for a moment, but when she moved her gaze towards the noticeable tent in his trousers, his expression cleared.

"Oh… um… 'didn't want to freak you out." He smiled at her:

"'Think you're ready?"

Christine bit her lower lip and nodded rather a little more eagerly than she had intended, and Shrem laughed.

He sat up on his heels, indicated his pants with his chin, and said:

"'All yours, Sunshine."

Christine knew that he didn't wear underwear when out of uniform, so her hands trembled a little as she fumbled with the fastenings at his waist, brushing over the bulge there accidentally. Shrem caught her wrists, pulled her towards him and kissed her a little roughly. She could see he was flushed, and he was breathing heavily:

"Don't force yourself… you don't have to touch it."

Somehow this steadied her nerves; she smiled reassuringly and reached for him again. She made quick work of the clasp and small buttons this time, and slipped her hands over his cool hips and into the opening at the front of his trousers.

Shrem closed his eyes, threw back his head and whimpered.

She had avoided touching Robert whenever possible, she had refused him oral sex, finding it repulsive, and had found hand-jobs exceedingly distasteful; but touching Shrem was an entirely different matter altogether. Everything about him was beautiful to her. And it wasn't even that he seemed exotic or unusual… if he had been Terran she would have found him just as breathtaking. She hadn't always thought this… he was huge, and, well, blue with antennae, and he laughed and talked like a girl sometimes… he was a little on what humans called the camp side… but for some odd reason, he also seemed to embody everything that a man should be, everything a person should be, really. Christine laughed at the fact that she was philosophising about the reasons why she loved him while her hands were in his pants.

"Oi… that's not exactly confidence inspiring."

Shrem was pouting at her, and looked a little hurt.

"Poor big blue monster." She soothed, then leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, while freeing his erection and giving it a gentle stroke. Shrem only managed an incoherent 'hmmmnnnnn' sound.

She wasn't scared, not in the slightest. She looked down; _beautiful, like the rest of him_, then looked back up and smiled. Kissing him a little harder this time, she straddled his lap.

"Oh yes, Buttercup." He moaned and leaned back, giving her more room to move.

"… Um… I haven't done it this way before… but…"

Shrem curled his large hands around her waist, then moved them over her hips and onto her bum, squeezing gently:

"I'll help." He grinned cheekily, then lifted her a little closer.

"I'm sure you will." She whispered a few centimetres form his mouth, then reached down, positioned him, and sank down. They both moaned, Shrem rather loudly.

"Now what?" Christine whispered, feeling exceedingly foolish. Shrem giggled, then grasped her hips and showed her how to move.

"With your hips… not your legs." He panted, and she complied.

They were almost eye to eye in this position, so she did not have to look up at him, and the dark gold of his eyes, so intense in their focus on her, made the breath catch in her throat.

"I love you", She moaned the words "so much". She could see his control crumble, and as his hands became more demanding at her hips, and he began to thrust upwards rather forcefully, all the while calling out her name and his own 'I love you's, her world narrowed to black as her eyes rolled back and bright purple lights flashed in the dark. She could hear her own voice as if coming from a distance, loud and a little shrill:

"Oh Puppy!"

**A/N: Hmmm… sock porn, no idea where that came from.**

**Nerdy Note****: OK, so, I introduced something intentionally wrong in the last chapter: for evolutionary reasons, it would be really bad for Andorians to sweat… it's a cooling mechanism, and scientists believe that Neanderthals, who developed during the last Ice Age, cooled their bodies mainly through their mouths and noses; sweat would have sped up hypothermia immensely… result: dead Neanderthal. Anyways, in canon, Andorians can withstand extreme temperatures on both ends of the spectrum… and that's fine by me… but there was just something important about the added vulnerability and visceral aspect that sweat brings to good sex. Plus, while Christine was not a very active participant in their first bout of nookie, the idea that nothing about Shrem disgusts her was rather important. So, lets make up a new pseudo sciency reason why Andorians only sweat during sex:… ahm… chemical bonding through added body fluids which contain pheromones and scent particles? Yea, let's go with that. "Blue People, no humping outdoors!"**


	18. Andoria II

**A/N: Hm, so this was supposed to be the last chapter on Andoria, but there will be one more scene in the next one set there… I couldn't leave yet. I know Christine is a little quiet in this, but I think she's just listening.**

**Thank you so much for the answers to my question… I think my uncertainty was part of the fact that I don't have my confidence back yet after my long writer's block… reviews have dropped off, which is completely understandable, and I've read too much smut recently, and while it's entertaining, I don't want to write a PwP. There are no lemons in this chapter, and with good reason; there will be one in the next one, or the one after that, also with good reason. Some of the concepts may seem a little odd, I had a long, preachy note about cultural takes on nudity and how the references to Will have no incestuous overtones, but if I have to tell you that sort of thing in an A/N, then I'm not doing my job as a writer… I have to let you make up your own minds. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters; I do, however, own my OCs and my plot.**

She looked almost unbearably cute, wrapped up in more layers than an Arnel era vase, packed and ready for inter-galactic transport. The only visible parts of her face were her eyes and the tip of her nose, now flushed red as it peaked out above her scarf. She waddled over to him again, and from somewhere beneath the layers of thermal wool obscuring her mouth, he could her a distinctly petulant but slightly playful:

"Not fair."

Shrem was wearing dark trousers, socks, boots, a T-shirt, and a rather lumpy jumper, which Christine had made for him long before they were more than best friends; and nothing else. He smiled at her a little indulgently, but her pointy nose wrinkled and he figured she thought he was being smug:

"Awww, Buttercup, just be glad it's spring, and actually rather balmy for the season too, minus ten degrees Centigrade isn't all that cold for down here."

The surface of course would be a completely different matter, up there, the warmest temperature recorded was minus 28, and that had been during an unprecedented heat-wave. The underground cities, with all the heated buildings and vast stretches of climate-controlled greenhouses, were a positively toasty minus 20 to about minus 7 all year round.

_Yup, definitely balmy._

"I think my snot has frozen in my nose."

He didn't know why little-girl Christine always made him go all warm and fuzzy inside, or how that was invariably connected with snot, but he simply laughed, and hugged her overly padded form to him, kissing her indeed rather chilled nose.

"Let's go back. I'll get you some hot tea and we can see if there's any food ready to be pilfered yet."

"No, I'm fine… I want to see the caves. I'm just being a big Southern wuss."

He saw her eyes crinkle and knew she was smiling at him.

"We're almost there, anyway, Sunshine."

He pointed straight ahead and she dutifully waddled forth; he couldn't help but smile again, his insides going all warm and bubbly once more.

He'd woken that morning feeling strangely cold without her much warmer body pressed against his, and before full awareness had even set in, he had felt a small, disconcerting pang of panic. Sitting up, he'd seen her, one of the colourful throws, made by one of his aunts, draped around her, her slightly tangled hair falling over her shoulders and all the way to her waist in soft waves, her back turned to him, and her attention rived by what lay beyond the large oval window of his bedroom.

Immense relief had coursed through his body at the sight of her.

He'd slid out of bed, stepped up behind her, and had wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.

_Cinnamon, herbal shampoo, a tiny tang of sweat, and the slightly musky scent of sex._

"Good morning, my Christine." He'd mumbled it against her ear, followed by a contented little sigh.

"Good morning, Puppy."

She'd turned to him and grinned rather wickedly. It had taken his breath away for some reason. He knew this was a new expression for her: that lovely curve of her mouth that held just a hint of teasing, and that slightly mischievous glint to her large blue eyes had not been there a few weeks ago. He had done this; he had helped her find new bits and pieces somewhere inside, and while they had, no doubt, been there all along, they had never been allowed to come out to play.

"I can't believe you distracted me so much last night that I never even noticed the view."

She had given him a playful mock scowl, and he had answered:

"I always aim to please."

"Would you like to go for a walk, Buttercup? I could show you the small ice caves just over there." He'd pointed out the window and across a short expanse of frosty ground towards small naturally formed tunnels just along the wall of the huge cavern that held the city of Usaraan.

"They're nowhere near as spectacular as the Arnedian Caves, but they're pretty, and they're right here."

She had smiled rather excitedly at that, and he had kissed her gently, still a little in awe of all the emotions chasing through his system. He'd been genuinely disturbed not to find her in his bed just moments earlier; that had never really happened to him before.

"I need a shower first, though… I don't think I'm entirely on the fresh side." There'd been that little grin again, coupled with a small blush and a bite to her lower lip.

He'd kissed her neck, inhaled deeply, and had told her:

"You smell wonderful, you always do."

There had been a knock at their door, and his Ami had called them to breakfast.

"Do you think you'll make it through that first? We'll have food and then… oh, crap!"

"What?"

"Ahrrr, bollocks, I completely forgot… it didn't even occur to me… it really should have… ehm… shit!"

"Will you stop cursing and tell me what's wrong?"  
"This is my ancestral home, you knew that, right? It's rather old, and very traditional in how everything is laid out, and… well,… mmmm,… communal bathing." He'd mumbled the last two words, but she had heard him.

"What?"

_Awww, cute bug face._

"Well, the house has 68 floors, the very bottom is below the cave floor, it's like a rather large bath house… hot thermal water, a few pools, open showers… lots of Andorian tiling… we're famous for our tiles… don't know if I ever told you that… and well… no clothes."

Christine had given a horrified squeak, then gone red all over – he had been able to see her shoulders and chest, since the throw had slipped slightly at his revelation – and had finally put her face in her hands.

"It's not that bad, Sunshine… nobody's gonna ogle you or anything… they're all used to seeing people naked."

"I'm sort of a pale peach colour all over, I'm sure they'll stare, just for the sheer exotic oddity of it all, Shrem. And quite apart from that… this is me we're talking about… I don't really think I'd be able to…"

In the end, with the help of both his mothers and his grandmother A'Rill, they had convinced her during breakfast to take a shower with her underwear on. One of his brothers had giggled a little, and had promptly been put in his place by about seven of his female relatives.

Christine had still been rather upset by the whole thing:

"I can't believe I'm being such an idiot… I mean… it's just naked people… and that is the most beautiful bath I've seen in my entire life… they used to have these on Earth… a very long time ago, probably not even the most extravagant ones would have been as gorgeous as this, though… and I'm having a rushed shower in my bra and panties… that's just…" She'd sobbed a little as Shrem had wrapped her in a towel. His Ame and grandmother A'Rill had taken Christine aside, and had been rather successful in reassuring her:

"Just think what people on Earth would say if one of us waltzed into one of their private bathroom naked. 'Oh hello, may I join you in the tub?'"

Christine had actually given a little laugh at that.

"See, you laughed. Now, to me that sounded perfectly reasonable, but since you think it's funny, it must be downright odd." His grandmother had petted her cheek and grinned at her.

"It takes a while to get used to different cultures… I used to live on Tellar Prime for a few months during my studies, and nearly gave my roommate a heart attack when I came out of the bathroom in the nip… I'm sure it took our little icicle a while to stop wandering around butt naked." His Ame had rubbed Christine's shoulders at that. She'd given a rather loud snorty little laugh at that, raised her eyebrows and asked:

"What do you mean 'stop'?" All three women had laughed then.

Christine had still looked a little sheepish after they'd gotten dressed, and with one of her determined little 'huh' sounds, had informed him that she firmly intended to shower topless the next morning.

"Good for you, Buttercup."

They had reached the entrance to the small cluster of caves, and taking Christine's gloved hand, he pulled her into the rather narrow tunnel. When they immerged from it and entered the main cavern, he could hear a loud gasp from just behind him.

"Oh Shrem, it's… it's…"

"The thermal gasses that are trapped inside the ice chemically react with the oxygen in the frozen water… that's what makes them glow."

He had been to these caves innumerable time, had played here with his siblings and cousins when he was a small child, but coming here with Christine, seeing them as if for the first time again through her eyes, they unexpectedly made him gasp as well. Sheets of ice covered the walls and ground, huge icicles hung from the small cave's ceiling, and every glittering, transparent surface in the cave faintly glowed blue, turquoise, and green.

He heard a tiny hiccup and a sob from behind him, and turning around, found Christine crying.

"Buttercup…?"

"Beautiful… so, _so_ beautiful… thank you for bringing me here."

He pulled down her scarf, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her.

* * *

"Right, now chop the nuts really finely; just move the blade the way I showed you." His aunt Mena was leaning over Christine, gently guiding her hands in the sew-saw motion of chopping.

"I really don't want to ruin this. I'm an awful cook." She looked genuinely worried.

"You're doing fine, Peach, just fine." His Ami reassured Christine from where she was standing and halving candies pineappleberries.

"She's coming! Hide!" Naren, his little nephew, who'd been standing guard outside the kitchen, was flapping his arms and grinning with giddiness. The four of them grabbed their respective chopping boards and mixing bowls and ducked behind the kitchen counter.

"This is silly." Christine whispered and grinned.

"Yea, but that's what makes it fun." His Ami winked and grinned right back.

"Oh for goodness' sake, I'm not coming in, but I just want to tell you that you're acting like a bunch of immature idiots… I can smell what you're doing, and it's not like I'm not expecting a bleeding cake… now hurry up, you lot, I have to put the mixed roast in the oven and the other seven kitchens are already running at full capacity."

A'Rill's voice held such a note of warmth, that the insults almost sounded like endearments. True to her word, though, she did not enter the kitchen, and they could hear her footsteps receding back towards the hallway and the turbo lift.

"She's gone." Naren informed them gleefully, clearly taking his responsibilities very seriously.

The four of them re-emerged, giggling like children, and proceeded to finish the last bit of preparation for decorating the five-tier birthday cake hidden in the pantry behind them.

Grandmother A'Rill still acted surprised and overjoyed when the finished cake was wheeled out.

The largest of the communal family rooms was packed with relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Shrem had barely had a moment to speak to Christine, since one or another of his family had commandeered her as soon as he'd had a moment in her close proximity. She was currently seated on a couch, deep in conversation with his uncle Shrem. The man had a talent for coming out with the most random and inconsequential of statements, but Christine looked oddly amused. He figured he'd still better check if she needed 'rescuing'.

Sitting on the armrest beside her, he bent down and kissed her cheek then whispered in her ear:

"'You alright?"

She gave him a gloriously big smile and nodded:

"Your brother, erm… the one that sort of looks like you… Sharn, I think, was looking for you. He's over there somewhere." She waved her hand in the general direction of the buffet table, and he kissed her cheek again and considered himself dismissed.

The next time he managed to spot her, she was standing beside his sister Eide, named for their aunt, and his sister-in-law A'Rey , they were animatedly discussing something or other; well, that made sense: Eide was a bio-chemist, and A'Rey was a doctor. His brother Soris joined them a minute later. That had to be as good as it got for Christine; Soris was an artist.

He finally caught her alone rather late into the party, standing before one of the large tapestries on the wall, a little to the side, intently watching Naren as he spun his little niece A'Rill in a circle, making her shriek with delight. The shrimps were allowed to stay up well past their bedtime for once, and were clearly still far from tired.

He noticed that Christine looked a little contemplative, and decidedly misty-eyed.

"Hello there, my Buttercup… how are you holding up?"

She smiled at him somewhat sadly, then said:

"Your family is wonderful… I was just feeling a little sorry for myself, and then I saw those two," here she indicated his niece and nephew with her chin, "and I just had to think about Will… he used to do that when we were small." She sighed softly:

"It's reassuring that despite all our cultural differences, we're somehow very similar, too… it's just… well, I had a great family, too… even if he was just one person… and now he's gone… and… do you think I'm an awful person for being a little jealous of you?... I am, aren't I?… I mean, I love you, I shouldn't…"

He just had to pull her into a fierce hug at this:

"No, Buttercup, you're not."

He whispered into her ear, and somehow had to fight the urge to tell her that she could be part of his family, if she wanted, that he would love nothing better than to share it with her. He wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that, even as he thought it, but if it was what he suspected it to be, it would probably scare her.

_Too soon._

"Come with me, Sunshine."

He took her hand an pulled her from the large room; on his way out he quickly leaned into his grandmother A'Rill and whispered:

"Can you do me a favour and keep everyone away from the bath?"

She smirked at him, but he shook his head:

"No, not that."

She gave him a quizzical look, but then kissed his cheek:

"Sure, Snowflake."

"We'll be back."

When he pulled Christine into the turbo lift and pressed the lowest button, she looked a little panicked:

"Where are we going?"

"The bath… there won't be anyone there this time of night."

She looked a little uncertain, and blushed, then stuttered:

"Shrem… I don't really think that's a good idea… I…"

"Trust me, Buttercup."

The bath was softly lit, even at night, and the sound of flowing water in the otherwise quiet, cavernous room, combined with the small curves and swirls of light as it was reflected onto the walls, dancing across the colourful patterns on the tiles, was pleasantly soothing. Shrem turned slightly away from Christine and began to undress. She did not follow suit, and he stepped into one of the smaller pools; the one with a small current which allowed for washing as well as bathing, since the foamy suds and milky oiliness of toiletries would be swept away beneath the vast cave floor.

"Take your clothes off and come to me… It's not what you think."

She still looked uncertain, probably remembering the hordes of raucous relatives this room had held only that morning. Finally, and a little reluctantly, she stripped, neatly folded her clothes, and waded into the shallow pool to sit down beside him.  
"Come here, between my legs, back to me." He instructed gently.

She gave him a somewhat dubious look, then did as she was bid. Shrem wondered if her propensity to please and obey had not led to her being taken advantage of by her parents and ex-fiancé, and mused how he would put it to much better use.

Sitting down, the water reached to just below her breasts, her hair was still in its customary bun, so he began by cupping water in his hands and letting it run down her shoulders, then reached for a bar of soap from the edge of the pool, and began to wash the newly dampened skin. She was a little tense, and as she turned around, looking rather insecure, and tried to kiss him, he pulled back and shook his head:

"No, Buttercup… this isn't about that. There are more aspects to intimacy than just sex… I know you're uncomfortable with being naked, because it reminds you of it… I don't want you to associate this place with us being 'naughty'." he grinned at her, but she looked a little confused.

"I know I can't replace your brother…and I don't want to, either, for _obvious_ reasons, but I need you to understand that I can give you more than just sexual intimacy."

He pulled the small clips from her hair, loosening the strands with his fingers. He pulled her sideways a little, and instructed:

"Dip."

Once again, she obeyed and wetted her hair. Settling her back into the space between his legs, Shrem reached for the shampoo and began to massage it into her long, wet mane of palest blond. She sighed contentedly, and he leaned forward to kiss her temple:

"'You like that?"  
"Hmmm." Her answer sounded like a happy little gurgle, and Shrem smiled.

"My mothers used to do this for me when I was little… actually, that's a complete lie, they still do."

Her soft laughter made her shoulders shake a little, and he place his hands there and stroked down her arms gently:

"You know, this sort of thing doesn't have to be restricted just to me… even though my head massages are the best… Nyo and Eya tend to have little days out at the Japanese bath just a few blocks from campus, I'm sure they'd be happy for you to come along."

"I don't know… that's not quite the same thing."

"No, but the point I'm trying to make is that your friends can be like your family… intimacy and everything."

She was quiet, and he supposed she was thinking it over. So he took the opportunity to rinse out her hair, by giving another soft command of:

"Ok, dip again."

When they made their way back to the party, and were both back in the fully lit turbo lift, Shrem noticed that there was a certain glow to Christine that he thought was not only due to the hot water. She had left her hair down and was smiling slightly. He took her hand and pulled her close, cuddling her to him. She kissed the side of his neck, then looked up at him:

"You know, I don't think there ever was any real intimacy in my family… well, except between Will and I… not the asexual naked type you were just talking about, the last time I saw him without clothes on was when I was 4 and he was 10, but… the emotional kind. But with my parents… nothing. We had nannies and tutors, and… well…"

"Hm." He simply hummed in understanding.

"I knew you were smart, but sometimes you just make my head spin with just how wise you can be… how do you know so much about this?"

"I don't really… I blame you."

She looked up at him, then went slightly onto the tips of her toes and pressed a tiny kiss to his lips.

"You overwhelm me sometimes… and I mean that in the best possible sense of the word."

"Hm."

When they returned to the large family room, all the little ones had finally been sent to bed, and the slightly more boozy and rowdy part of the celebrations began. A'Rill was singing old battle songs with some of her former guard friends. His Dume, both Sharns - his brother and grandfather - ,Soris, and his aunt Eide, taught Christine an Andorian drinking game while he wasn't looking, and the next thing he knew, they'd gotten her to sing along with them to one of the ancient ballads, and she seemed to be holding her own, even if she really couldn't sing, and kept giggling rather maniacally.

_Ah, ballswax! He really was screwed. He was just standing there looking at her like she was the bleedin' sun, come up after a decade of darkness._

"Well, that's that settled then."

He had not even heard his grandmother A'Rill, but she was now standing right beside him, swaying a little from her own overindulgence, and was smiling rather happily.

They fell into bed fully dressed; Christine still laughing and trying to repeat the joke his uncle Shrem had told her, but was either failing miserably, or succeeding with what was simply not a very funny punch line.

They curled around each other and promptly fell asleep.


	19. Old and New

**A/N: So... it took a while for reviews to start trickling in for the last chapter, so I wasn't too sure how it went down. You might not be that happy that there's another bathing scene in this so (enough with the effin' bath already, says you… tough shit, says me), but it has it's purpose. As promised/warned (that really depends entirely on your perspective) there is smut in this… ehm, but not in the bath, that would just undermine my point in the previous chapter. (and I still don't like the word 'smut')**

**A big thank you to all of you who reviewed (I've thanked you, and probably rambled at you in person, already), you keep me going.**

**I've posted (and since updated with a link to the song) a little one-shot that slips in between Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 of this fic… and no, it's not a lemon; it's rated K+ (That's my lowest rating ever!). Check it out, if you feel so inclined, it's called 'She Moves Through the Fair', and is from Christopher Pike's POV. **

**I had a fairly busy week, so this chapter might be a little bitty, since it was written in short spurts here and there… but hey, you'll remember that from H&H.**

**Oh, and I nearly forgot… the very last bit was inspired by Lady Reva's review for chapter 17… hee hee.**

**To Sabriel: O, Prodigal Author… I like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters. I own my OCs and this plot. **

Once again she woke with less of a sore head and queasy stomach than she would have expected, and concluded that the company had contributed as much to the rather silly type of fun she'd had the previous night as the alcohol had.

Even though the bed was big, Shrem and she were tangled up in each other, limbs haphazardly thrown over limbs, right in the middle of the mattress, and he was still fast asleep, snoring ever so softly.

The most peculiar feeling of warmth suffused her entire body as she studied him; he was sprawled out on his front, one arm and one leg wrapped around her, his hand under his cheek and the other leg extended sideways so that his foot was dangling off the bed. His mouth was open just a fraction, and her cheek was close enough to feel his warm breath when she sank back down into her pillow after her short 'recon' of their precise location and position.

Something had happened last night; somewhere between the moment he had pulled her to sit between his legs in the thermal pool, and the one when he had wrapped a towel around her and hugged her to him, something rather monumental had shifted inside her.

She had been a little flustered when he had pulled her away from the celebrations, had taken her to the turbo lift, and had explained where they were going. She thought it inappropriate to leave the party, and a little distasteful to contemplate doing _that_ in a place where his grandparents, parents, and little nieces and nephews would have a bath the following morning… and, well…

And then she had been rather confused, when she was willing to give in… trying to please him, really, and had attempted to kiss him, only for him to pull away. There had been no evidence of his arousal, and she would have been in a position to tell, since her back was pressed right up against him; and for some odd reason that had hurt her just a bit.

_Had he grown bored with her so quickly… surely a man with Shrem's libido shouldn't be able to touch a naked woman all over while they were alone in a warm, softly lit and beautifully tiled bath, without at least feeling some desire towards her?_

She had felt rather foolish for first judging him for what she perceived to be his intention of jumping her in one of the large pools, and then getting anxious because he wasn't following through with it.

But when he had explained, all the while caressing her with the softest of touches, and had somehow expressed his affection in a way she was not used to, was in fact entirely unfamiliar with, she had been overcome by the strangest of sensations. Somehow, that morning, his family had reminded her of a large group of primates, grooming each other and furthering some strange social bond that she did not understand… and she was the pink monkey cowering in the corner. But now she suddenly had the disturbing image of a small baby baboon in her mind… the one who'd been used in an experiment, oh so long ago, about the importance of comfort to the development of an infant. The horrid experiment had compared one tiny baboon being fed from a metal shape with a teat, while the other was given the dubious benefit of having his fake wire mother covered in fur, but had to forego the rather fundamental addition of a milk filled teat. The first baby monkey had become undernourished, refusing to feed, while the second one had clung to the inanimate object with all the determination of a leech, braking Christine's heart by lavishing all his affection on a fur covered roll of chicken wire. She could not really tell which one of the two monkeys she was, but suspected she was a mixture of both; somehow that was worse than being merely one. She had parents, had had stability in her childhood, and she had clung to that fur-covered chicken-wired monstrosity as if it had indeed provided her with love. Only it hadn't.

And in his own strange and perceptive way, Shrem was now telling her that it was alright… was somehow offering to make up for it. Was holding out the possibility of being a normal monkey like the rest of them… through him.

_That's not healthy, Christine, and you know it. You cannot give all your affections over to one person like that. _

She knew that on some level her inner voice had a point, that if Shrem grew tired of her, did not want her anymore, she would be left with nothing again. But then she reflected on the fact that she really had nothing to lose, and that she was tired of holding herself back, of being sensible, of being cautious, _realistic_. What had that ever gotten her?

Robert, that's what.

And she had friends now. And she would keep them. Only thing was, what she really wanted was Shrem… in the way that he seemed to be offering.

And somewhere between sitting down between his legs and having a towel wrapped around her, she had told her sensible inner voice to 'fuck off', in those precise words.

She had expressed her love before, had said the three little words, and had meant them, only now there was no more hesitation, now she was giving everything she had and was, and damn the consequences.

She felt stupid, terrified, and euphoric, all at the same time.

She cuddled closer to him and rubbed her nose against his; he gave a small little snort and twitched, then opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Buttercup."

There was a strange sense of him being inordinately pleased, and almost pleasantly surprised, to see her, which made her go even warmer on the inside.

"Puppy, I think I would like a bath."

* * *

They'd both showered quickly first, after all, it was more hygienic to share a bath if one was moderately clean to begin with, then took a seat in one of the shallow pools with a soft current.

Christine caught herself a few times trying to cover her breasts, but managed to suppress the urge. As it happened, nobody was looking, and that stupid little voice that had been wondering why Shrem had not reacted to her the previous night, was now questioning if there was something wrong with her 'lumps', as Shrem had called them.

_Oh, shut up! Your cultural background is hanging out._

"Sweetheart, come here and let me wash your hair before you go off and leave for so long again." Thoria was calling to Shrem, and he gave Christine a quick reassuring smile, and she knew he was about to tell his mother 'no', fearing Christine wouldn't like him to leave her side.

"It's OK, go on… I'm a big girl, I can just about manage to wash myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure… you're acting like there's a huge marine predator in here somewhere… I very much assume there isn't…?"

"Well, that depends on your interpretation of the word 'predator'." He was giving here a wicked grin and a playful eyebrow wriggle.

Laughing, she shoved him slightly:

"Go get over there to your mommy, and stop making stupid jokes."

He just grinned again, gave her a peck on the nose and was off.

In the end she didn't have to wash herself… well, she didn't have to wash her back, A'Rey did. She didn't have to wash her hair either, that was done by grandmother A'Rill, while Sharn, the younger, told her a story about how when they were little, Shrem had shoved an entire pickled gornberry up his nose and had actually believed him when he'd told him it was now stuck in his brain and would make him stupid, progressively, one day at a time.

Amidst the raucous laughter that followed that story, little A'Rill had swum up to her – she was still small enough to do so in the shallow pool – had held out a container of what Christine supposed was Andorian baby shampoo, and had turned around.

"Yea, right, new people are so much more fun; in a few years she'll ignore you like she now ignores her other aunt." A'Rey had joked and pointed at herself, not even aware of the implication.

Christine had somehow felt ridiculously happy.

* * *

The farewell committee numbered about 50; no wonder the terminals at the dock were so spacious.

There where hugs and kisses in a quantity that made Christine a little dizzy, and blush again… she'd really been thrown in the deep end, here… but she managed to hug and kiss right back, and even if it was a little tentative still, it lacked nothing in conviction.

She could hear grandmother A'Rill tell Shrem that they'd leave the bigger bed in his room; and felt her cheeks grow warm again and her smile get bigger.

Eide promised to send her some of her research in exchange for some of her own, and suggested a discussion session via com.

Soris handed her a small crystal memory chip and smirked:

"You do know that the Andorian Academy has one of the best art programs in the Alpha Quadrant, right?... They do short term courses… you could probably call it 'summer school'."

A'Ray simply hugged her fiercely and said:

"Call me when you get there."

She was a little surprised when Thoria whispered in her ear:

"You take care of my little boy, you hear… and of yourself, my Peach." But smiled and nodded, and somehow had to fight tears. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed again.

Somehow in all the chaos, Shrem had made it back to her side, and was now taking her hand and smiling down at her:

"Ready to go, Buttercup?"

"Hm." Was all she managed by way of an answer.

"OK, so I admit it, I was wrong, little brother." Sharn had walked up to them and was clapping a large hand on Shrem's shoulder.

"About what?" Shrem looked adorably confused.

"You're not a pervert… oh, and Blue Eyes, nice boobs." At this he winked at Christine, grinned, and then sauntered back to his husband and two wives.

_Well, there you go, happy now?_

Christine briefly felt foolish and a little embarrassed, but then decided that noticing and ogling really weren't the same thing, and a joke was still a joke:

"So… your favourite brother, huh?"

"Can you blame me?" Shrem gave her his own wink and grinned in a way that was almost identical to his older brother.

* * *

They arrived back at the Academy on Sunday evening, and since they both had some last minute class preparations to take care of, they went to their respective quarters. Christine had difficulty sleeping, and chided herself for even contemplating that it had anything to do with being alone in her bed.

Gaila had indeed kept her Monday evening free, and Christine found, to her great relief, that all her strange feelings of jealousy and mild resentment had vanished as suddenly as they had appeared. She suspected that her newfound confidence not only in Shrem's affections but also in her own, played a major part in this development. They still didn't talk about sex with Shrem, they talked about sex with Jim… repeatedly… in great detail… with mostly nodding and 'oh's and 'I see's forming Christine's part of the conversation.

She left feeling slightly nauseated, but that could simply have been due to the fact that Gaila and her had attempted to cook again.

_Bad idea. When would they learn?_

She didn't blame Gaila for nattering on, though. She could tell that her little break down had seriously worried her friend, and she was simply talking to breach any remaining awkwardness.

Her parents, whom she had not contacted about her travelling plans, had attempted to call her. She did not respond to the message.

Robert, whom she most certainly had not informed of her plans, had attempted the same. She deleted the message without even watching it.

It was not until Tuesday evening that Christine got to spend any significant amount of time with Shrem, and most of that was in the company of others. Oh, it was so very tempting to simply forget about the rest of the world, to just revel in this newly found cocoon of affection and love; but the world had to go on, and there was little point in ignoring it.

So, there were a few immaturely frantic kisses in her room, a little self-derision for the fact that she had actually missed him in the 20-something hours she had not seen him, and then they were off to Captain Taylor's knitting circle.

Gaila was exalting the virtues of anal sex, which made most of the others cringe, while Shrem was finishing one of Aureya's socks; their small green friend had left early, since she was feeling a little under the weather.

"…and really, it's just a simple matter of muscle control and lubrication, and…"

"Please, I'm begging you, anyone… talk about anything,… just make her stop…" Kate, not particularly concerned about interrupting Gaila, was pleading with the group for someone to change the subject.

On impulse, and somehow feeling that she had a few months of silence to make up for, Christine offered:

"I saw most of Shrem's family naked… a little nerve-wrecking that." She figured this would distract even Gaila from her current lecture. And since it wasn't about sex, and could be given an anthropological spin, it seemed to be as good a topic as any.

"Ahm…" Kate looked a little uncertain, obviously not entirely convinced that this was the sort of thing she had had in mind.

"Ah, yes… that would have been the communal bathing… fascinating custom that, but not alien to Earth culture… quite common in parts of Northern Europe still, and I believe it was taken to the level of an art form in feudal Japan." Miriam smiled indulgently.

"Oh." Kate seemed appeased.

Gaila, who had simply been staring at her with her mouth slightly open since her rather unusual declaration, snapped it shut and grinned:

"So… um… who did Shrem get his _special attribute_ from?"

"Gaila, I'm right here."

She waved him off dismissively.

"I'm not… I don't… I didn't look… I mean… ehm… his dad." Christine gave up, blushing furiously.

"I wasn't staring or anything… I just noticed." She defended herself.

"Stop worrying so much, Buttercup. You're allowed to look… I'm assuming you weren't drooling over my Dumi or granddad… so relax."

"No, obviously not… it's just still a little strange to think that… never mind… it'll get better."

Gaila still looked entirely too intrigued:

"So… when you were all naked together, did anything…"

"No! Goodness Gaila, it's not like that… even when Shrem and I had a bath alone, nothing happened… it's just not like that…" Christine was becoming increasingly flustered, and was seriously regretting her rash decision to share some of her anthropological observations.

"Wait. What? You were alone together… naked… and nothing?"

A small pang of insecurity returned at this. Surely if Gaila found it hard to believe that a man could be entirely unaffected by… well… it clearly hadn't happened to _her _before.

Christine was chewing on her lower lip and could feel the warmth in her cheeks; somehow she had a hard time looking at anyone.

"Well, one would assume that growing up in a society where communal bathing forms part of family bonding, the activity is almost entirely desexualised. The setting alone would suggest childhood memories, expressions of non-sexual affection and so forth… I would imagine it to be rather difficult to overcome such conditioning and feel suddenly aroused in that situation." Miriam gave a small nod, indicating that this should clear up the matter nicely. Christine still felt a little perturbed, and sipped at her tea in order to avoid having to respond.

"Buttercup, don't look so bothered… the situations in which you do affect me are almost too many to count… and if it makes you feel any better, I _have_ masturbated in your private shower while thinking of you."

Christine snorted into her cup in shock and nearly choked on her Earl Grey.

"What?... You're my girlfriend, now… I'm not allowed to say stuff like that?" Shrem looked genuinely confused, and then studied the women around him, most of whom were hiding their gleeful giggles and snickers behind their hands or an unfinished piece of knitting. Christine was sure she had gone a rather fetching shade of puce, but managed to look Shrem in the eye and hiss:

"Not in public… but, thanks… I suppose."

The second half of her statement was muttered in a slightly sheepish tone.

She truly was pathetic… he'd just embarrassed her, and she simply couldn't bring herself to be mad… mostly, she just thought he was sweet.

Shrem walked her back to her quarters when the circle broke up at around 2000 hours, and held her hand the entire way there. Christine smiled and blushed, and inwardly berated herself for acting like a teenager.

"You're not angry with me, are you?" Shrem squeezed her hand tentatively,

"It's just, I do think about you like that almost all the time… just, well, I think about you in different ways too… and that one's rather new to me."

Christine smiled up at him:

"No, I'm not angry… you didn't mean any harm… and, really, you didn't do any either."

"Hm… good. Well, it's just… this is all a little new to me, and, like I said, I don't want to mess it up… so, if I say anything wrong… you know me, I can say thoughtless things at times, and…"

Christine stopped him there and placed a kiss on the side of his jaw:

"I know, and I don't mind."

"It's actually a little disconcerting how much I _do_ think about you, Buttercup."

Shrem's expression had become rather serious, and Christine thought it best to wait and see if he had anything else to say.

"And yes, a lot of it is in a sexual way, but quite a bit of it isn't… and… I mean, you've met my family, right?"

Not entirely sure as to where this was going, Christine simply smiled and nodded.

"And, you see, most marriages on Andoria are arranged. That's why grandmother A'Rill wanted to meet you… she'd just found three candidates for me, and… well, you can fill in the rest."

This was news to her, a strange sense of unease settled inside Christine's stomach.

_Had she misread his family? Did they not like her as much as she had begun to hope? Was she getting in the way of their plans for Shrem?_

"Romantic love is sort of a question of pot luck, you know. It's not really expected to happen – falling in love with one of your spouses – that is. If it does happen, well, good for you. My uncle Soris and my aunt Eliade are madly in love; that's why all her kids look like him; and that's fine, Eide and Shrem are quite content with each other, and don't much interfere with the other two. And A'Ray and her wife Saidna seem to be going the same way; but it's not really the norm. You'll never want for love in a large family like that, it's just mostly not the romantic type, and, well…"

They had reached Christine's quarters by now, and were standing outside her door; Shrem had not let go of her hand and was looking down at her with such an earnest expression in his eyes, that Christine was a little lost for words:

"I… ehm… I'm not sure I know what you're trying to tell me, Shrem."

"Just that… well, I don't think you understand just how much you've come to mean to me. I know Gaila suddenly freaks you out… Eya's mentioned something… sort of by accident… and, well, it's almost funny how ridiculous that is… Gaila and I hold great affection for one another, she's one of my best friends, and the sex was something else…"

Christine winced a little at this, and Shrem smiled rather indulgently and ran his fingertips across her cheek:

"But it's nothing like what I feel for you, or how badly I want you, or how much just touching you affects me… and the fact that you seemed to doubt my desire for you, just because I thought it was important to show you that I see you as so much more…"

"You don't find me boring? I… I mean…ehm 'unadventurous'?"

She was not sure why she was interrupting him; quite possibly because she knew her face was now bright red, and the urge to simply throw herself at him was becoming hard to resist.

'Why, Buttercup, what sort of 'adventure' were you thinking of?"

He was now grinning at her, leaning forward slightly, so that his breath was ghosting over her lips.

"Well, ehm… I… I obviously wasn't… I just thought that you're used to… I don't know… _more_?"

Still grinning at her, Shrem punched her code into the lock and, once the door opened, pulled her into her quarters.

"I could never find you boring, Buttercup. And as far as being 'adventurous' goes, I haven't even begun to educate you…"

He winked rather suggestively at her, then stopped any budding sense of indignation or apprehension welling up inside her, by pulling her close and kissing her rather roughly. His hands made their way into her hair, and he teased out the two large clips holding her braid coiled into a neat bun, all the while never moving his lips from hers. When Christine finally had an opportunity to speak, granted her by Shrem kissing down her neck and making his way to that spot behind her ear that invariably made her shiver and her toes curl, her brain was no longer capable of remembering that she had intended to reprimand him for his condescension, or that she was not entirely sure that she wanted to be 'educated'.

When Shrem bit the sensitive skin of her neck a little less than gently, she simply whimpered and could feel her knees go weak.

"'Like that, Sunshine?"

Shrem's hands were now roaming her upper body, every so often teasing her nipples through the fabric of her shirt and cardigan. She, in turn, simply had her hands fisted in his light green sweater, attempting to keep herself upright on progressively less stable legs.

Finally, Shrem divested her of both her upper garments, then gently turned her around and away from him, and freed her hair from its braid. When he was done, Christine tried to turn back around to face him, but Shrem placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and whispered:

"No, Buttercup, stay like that."

As he brushed her hair forward over one shoulder, slipped off one strap of her bra and began kissing down her shoulder and then her back, while caressing her stomach with his large hands, Christine felt the small amount of tension build inside her.

Shrem unhooked the small clasp at her back, then slipped the undergarment completely off, before stepping away from her. She could hear the rustle of fabric, then Shrem's broad, naked chest was pressed against her, while his hands stroked over her belly and sides, and his face was buried between her neck and shoulder, where he place little nips and kisses. She was waiting expectantly for him to touch her breasts, but he moved downwards, opening the fastenings on her trousers and sliding them off. She could feel him doing the same to his own, so that now she wore only panties, and Shrem wore nothing at all. After gently slipping down the last remaining piece of fabric on her body, Shrem whispered in her ear:

"On the bed, Buttercup… hands and knees, and face the door."

The note of command to his words was muted by the sheer warmth and gentleness of his voice, but still, Christine hesitated. She had always associated this type of position with the objectification of women, had regarded it as somewhat sordid or seedy. 'Doggy style', indeed, made her think of the woman being nothing but a wanton 'bitch' for the edification of her partner and the bolstering of his ego.

"Trust me, my Christine." This too was whispered in her ear like a soft order, and quite in spite of herself, she found herself obeying.

"Good girl." Shrem's breath tickled her shoulder as he praised her while climbing onto her bed behind her. His hand stroked from the side of her lower back down and across her right bum cheek, while his breathing, now against her shoulder blades, became heavy.

"That's what you are, isn't it? A good girl? Always trying to please everyone but yourself."

Christine drew in a sharp breath.

"Does this scare you, my Christine?"

"I… I…"

She could not speak, she could barely think, as his hand repeated it's course from her lower back across the curve of her butt, only this time his long fingers came perilously close to her sex.

"I.. I just… I always thought this was… um… degrading… for the woman…"

"It isn't. You allowed other's to order you about for years… but I want you to understand the difference… I can be possessive and domineering, when it comes to sex, Christine, but I will only ever have your pleasure in mind. You let them take advantage of your submissive nature… let me show you what it can be like when the one giving the orders really loves you."

His other hand was now circling her waist, his thumb stroking her side gently, pulling her backwards and into him. His hand on her bum had become a little more insistent, his fingers digging into the soft flesh on occasion, opening the sensitive skin between her legs to the air and sending tingles up her spine. Her nipples were hard and almost throbbing by now, they had as yet not received any attention.

She almost squeaked when she felt something wet and slightly warm at the very bottom of her spine; Shrem was licking and kissing up her back, never taking his hands from where they held her pressed against his now very obvious arousal. Christine's long hair was falling like a curtain around her face, and it seemed that it amplified the sound of her heavy breathing.

"Do you trust me, Christine?"

"Yes." Her answer came on an exhale; she had not even wasted a second thinking about it.

"Do you really think this is degrading?"

One of his hands had left her hips, and she could feel him gently stroking her entrance with the head of his penis.

"No."

Her answer was no more than a moan.

"Tell me you want this… invite me in…"

"I… I… yes…"

"…good enough."

As he pushed forward with one sure stroke, both his hands reached for her hips again, but instead of holding them there, he allowed them to slide over her stomach, onto her breasts, and, cupping them firmly, he sat back onto his heals, taking Christine with him and cradling her into his lap.

Christine heard a sound somewhere between a scream, a moan, and a whimper escape her, but simply couldn't muster the will to care or feel embarrassed. As Shrem begun to thrust into her, deeper than she'd ever felt him, and as one hand left her breast, where it had been pinching her nipple more harshly than she would have expected to still be pleasurable, to curl gently but possessively around her neck, while the other one found her clit, her eyes rolled back into her head and she gave herself over to the sensations and the wanton moans and groans her mouth insisted on forming.

Shrem had begun to make those ridiculous little noises she had come to absolutely love; they were halfway between a high-pitched shriek and a pant, and were interrupted by rather breathless exclamations of:

"… feel so good… no-one's ever felt so good… love… love you so much…"

His face was buried in her hair, and she could feel the slightly warm and moist puffs of breath on the back of her head and neck. She could hear the slap of skin on skin, and far from embarrassing her, as she would have expected, it excited her further. Her own whimpered declarations of:

"… I love you… never thought this was possible… didn't think I could… love anyone so much… oh… puppy… love…"

soon joined his, as all her restraint crumbled under the assault of his body.

And when he pinched her clit while shouting his release a little too close to her ear for comfort, she came so hard she feared she would pass out.

In a moment of silence only broken by loud pants and a low growl from Shrem, the sudden and positively scandalised intake of breath issuing from somewhere of the vicinity of the door, might as well have been the deafening boom of an explosion. Christine's eyes flew open, and judging by the surprised little squeal coming from behind her, Shrem's had done the same.

There in her _open _doorframe, mouth comically wide and eyes positively bulging out of his head, stood Robert.

_Shit, I never changed the code._

Still panting, and with Shrem's arms firmly around her, his now softening penis still inside her, Christine was fully aware of the fact that she was presenting Robert with a full few of her sweaty naked self; and every well-brought-up cell in her brain told her to squeal and dive for cover, to feel mortified, to feel dirty and ashamed, but as Shrem's arms merely tightened around her in what was a clear statement of 'mine now', she simply could not bring herself to do so. Robert's face, now vaguely the shade of Aureya's, his eyebrows comically twitching in shock, his lips pulled into a sneer equal parts outrage and disgust, did nothing other than to amuse her. And so, butt naked, with her lover still clasping her firmly to him, making her feel secure even in this most ludicrous of situations, she laughed; and not in that dainty, lady-like way her mother approved of, but big barks of laughter, that were not even edged with the slightest hint of hysteria… because there, right in front of her, was her old life; and there, right behind her, was her new.

**A/N: Yea, I know that was more graphic than before. (I still think NC17 needs to have detailed descriptions of fluid leakage or non con or something like that… I've read anal rape rated as M on this site… so I really think I'm within the right parameters) I wanted it to be distinctly naughty… let's face it, Mr 'I know you don't like sex, but I have needs, so suck it up and spread your legs' had to walk in on them 'fucking' rather than making love… even though you and I know that for those two even fucking is making love. Hope this worked for you. (And thanks again to Lady Reva for this… hope this wasn't gratuitous either… it did have a message.) **


	20. Mostly Unexpected

**A/N: Righty ho, two things: number one: I reread the last chapter, as I always do before writing a new one, and realised I did one of those things that annoy the crap out of me in other people's writing, I forgot to take Christine's knickers off during the doggy-style scene... ehm, well not I, Shrem, really, but you get it. Anyways, if you're like me and noticed, it's fixed.**

**Secondly, and I have no idea how that happened, but now it's waaaaaay too late to fix it, 'turns out Robert's name is actually Roger... ooops. (All you serious Star Trek fans, who are clearly no longer reading this, thereby making this note completely superfluous... I'm so sorry!)**

After Dipshit stormed off, apparently incapable of delivering an impressive one-liner by way of a parting comment, since he merely gaped, then huffed incredulously a few times, and finally made a noise as if he wanted to cough up a fur-ball, before finally turning on his heel and disappearing towards the turbo lift, the apartment door sliding shut behind him, Christine's laughter became decidedly more quiet, until finally, she placed her head in her hands and began to moan:

"Oh God… oh God."

Shrem didn't blame her. He'd somehow guessed that the unexpected mirth couldn't last; and now felt a small stab of guilt for the fact that he had not covered at least some parts of Christine with his hands when Dickwad was staring at them. He'd noticed him only a moment before Christine had, but his first reaction was one he was not exactly proud of. He would have expected to feel angry, or protective, or even embarrassed on her behalf – nothing really ever embarrassed Shrem himself, bent antennae excepted – but there had been a somewhat less considerate emotion at the forefront of his mid: Smugness.

Pressing a deliciously sweaty and panting Christine closer possessively, his inner deamon had whispered in a rather self-satisfied voice:

'Yea, fuck-face, take a good look at her. _I_ did this. Not you; _me_. And you're never getting your hands on her again. She's mine, and the Alpha Quadrant will be sucked into a black hole before I give her back.'

Christine was now crying softly, and Shrem's gut twisted just a little at the fact that he'd let his possessiveness get the better of his protective instincts.

"It's alright, Buttercup, he's gone... and I'm sorry... I should have..."

He broke off, deciding that the words 'covered your tits and pussy' would probably upset her more.

"Sorry for what? 'Nothing you could have done..." Christine hick-upped on a small sob.

"I... well... I should have known this would upset you..." He pulled her closer, finally draping her comforter around her, and she snuggled gratefully into his arms.

"Of course this upsets me... what the heck was he doing here? I thought I'd made things perfectly clear and now..."

_Oh._

"And I've deleted all his messages, I have no idea what he wants... and..."

Shrem felt oddly reassured by the fact that Chris seemed far more upset about the fact that Asswipe had shown up, rather than that he'd seen her naked and... well, _in action._

"We could always get Gaila to trace the deleted messages... if you're really worried about this... I doubt he didn't get the picture this time, but... you know... just to be safe."

She smiled hopefully at him, small droplets of moisture still clinging to her lashes:

"I didn't even think of that... Gaila, of course. And I would feel better... just in case... I don't trust him not to talk my parents into sending another psychiatrist."

So it happened that Chris, Gaila, Jim and Shrem sat on Christine's couch, all of them in their pjs, all of them clasping a cup of coffee, and all of them staring at the com screen with identical expressions of disbelief on their faces, as they watched the three deleted and retrieved messages Robert had left over the previous weeks.

"... and whatever you believe you saw, certainly is no reason to end what has essentially been a mutually beneficial relationship. You must consider my reputation, Christine... everyone expects us to get married... would you like to explain to my superiors why I have to return their well meant engagement presents..."

and

"... this is ridiculous... surely you are aware of the fact that sexual gratification is a purely physical thing... not unlike other bodily functions, it has no deeper meaning; and quite beyond that, what do you expect? You are incapable of enjoying the act, and have always been unwilling to put in the slightest bit of effort... it is only natural that I would look elsewhere. And none of that has any bearing on the fact that from a social point of view we make perfect sense, Christine. Think of your parents... have you not disappointed them enough with your recent career choices?..."

and finally the message left while they were on Andoria:

"... this is preposterous... I have explained time and time again that the department prefers stable, family orientated men for their higher funded projects, and you have always understood this... it is a question of my career, and I have no doubt in my mind that, since the evaluation showed that you are quite sane, you understand that it is your duty to be seen on my arm at the gala. This is not about feelings, Christine, this is about obligations..."

"Holy fucking shit, Chris... how the hell did you stand that guy for nine years? I rarely say things like that, but I wouldn't let that _thing_ touch me with a barge pole." Gaila looked more pitying than judgemental, but Shrem still scowled at her a little:

"We all make mistakes, Froggikens, no need to rub it in."

"It's alright... and to answer your question, Gaila, I haven't the foggiest... this is surreal, it's almost like looking at somebody else's life... why would I ever... I mean... just, ugh..."

"My thoughts exactly." Gaila nodded with grim satisfaction.

"Incoming call, Robert Korby, Boston."

Incredulous silence and outright stares were interrupted by Jim's exclamation of:

"Fuck yea, it's the live update."

"... ehm... I'm not sure that's such a good idea... I don't know if I want to talk to - "

"Uh-uh, you put that wanker on screen and I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind." Gaila's tone broached no argument, and Christine, always too easily wrestled into things, gave in:

"On screen."

As Dipshit's face appeared, Shrem had to suppress the urge to growl at him.

"Oh..."

Taking in the four people on Christine's couch, the asshole had the gall to sneer:

"Well, I can see where your new morals originate."

He was still pale and a little queasy looking; presumably he'd only just returned home, but he was fixing Gaila with such a look of complete disdain, that both Shrem and Jim sat up a little straighter, ready to give the idiot what for. However, Gaila was quicker:

"Well, I can see why Christine used to not have orgasms... you even _look_ like you wouldn't find a clitoris with a navigational system and a honing device."

"... I... what?... well, I never..." Fuck-face spluttered.

"Yea, clearly you never."

Jim snorted at Gaila's response:

"You tell him, baby."

"Is this the company you keep now? Are... are you all... _involved_?... No matter, clearly I was not capable of catering to your outlandish sexual perversions; so I am sorry to say, Christine, that I don't believe this relationship is salvageable. I regret to inform you that I'm dissolving our engagement." Fortunately, even Ass-wipe looked less than convinced by his own act.

The four on the couch simply broke into riotous laughter, Jim snorting loudly and Shrem succumbing to his high-pitched giggles. Christine, wiping tears of amusement from her eyes, finally managed to say:

"Oh no, Robert... whatever shall I doooo?"

He gave a short indignant snort, and opened his mouth to respond, only to be wiped off the screen by Chris' slightly giggly and breathless:

"Computer, end call."

"Fuck me, that was unreal. That's gonna keep me entertained for at least a week." Jim, recovered enough to just smile broadly, looked at Gaila:

"Sorry sweetheart, I would have defended you, only you were too fast."

She just winked at him.

"Nice parting shot, Chris." Jim added.

Christine's smile was somewhat pleased, then her expression turned thoughtful:

"I completely forgot about that gala thing... you're all going, right?"

Nods all around.

"Thank goodness... ehm, Shrem... I was wondering,... well, since you and I..."

She was blushing slightly, and the flustered look on her face was just too cute.

Trust her to still think she had to ask about this... really, _he_ would have asked _her_, he'd simply assumed going together was a foregone conclusion, and did not need to be addressed; so, to put Christine out of her misery, Shrem scooped her into his arms and kissed her:

"Of course, Buttercup."

"Oh... good."

Her smile actually looked a little relieved, and Shrem rolled his eyes before kissing her again, a little more forcefully. Her hands made their way into his hair and a small whimper escaped her, causing him to push further into her and nip at her lower lip, before allowing his tongue to stroke her slightly more tentative one. He was rewarded with a proper little moan this time.

"Ehm... we'll just go... unless you want to play into the wanker's assumptions... but, ahm, well... we don't do that anymore, and you guys probably... ehm, yea... bye."

Jim was dragging Gaila out by the hand, she, in turn, was craning her neck and muttered something along the lines of:

"Ahhh, no fair... that bastard got to watch... and I'm their friend..."

Just before the door slid closed behind them, Jim called:

"Oh yea, before I forget... dance classes with Bones and Eya Friday night in preparation for that thing... you'd better come... might have a choking fit if I see Spock attempting classic ballroom... and I trust you more than Bones to resuscitate me." He smiled at Christine, who'd buried her head in Shrem's neck after realising she'd been making out with him rather heatedly in front of their friends.

"Sure." She muttered over Shrem's shoulder and smiled at Jim. Finally, the door slid shut again, indicating with a small bleep that it was locked once more.

"Hmmm, where were we, Buttercup?... 'Care to demonstrate those 'new morals' for me again?"

* * *

Shrem was making dinner for 'his girls', Christine and Aureya, Friday afternoon. They had another three hours until dance lessons... something he assumed was merely and excuse to poke fun at each other and then get drunk. Regardless, the whole idea sounded pretty good to him.

Christine was chopping parsley, while Aureya was cubing chicken fillets... Shrem rather liked experimenting with Terran food.

"Oh Eisenheim's balls... not again."

Aureya rushed off to the bathroom.

"'D you cut yourself, honey?" Shrem called after her, only to be rewarded with the sound of retching.

A minute later, Eya exited the bathroom, looking decidedly less green and a tad more grey.

"Sorry... don't know what's wrong... this has been going on for a while, I should probably see Bones about it... I just thought it was something I ate, but..."

Christine had put down her knife and was approaching Aureya:

"Are there any other symptoms... like tiredness, are you sore anywhere?"

"Hm... tired, yes... sore? I don't think so."

"Ehm... are your breast really sensitive?"

"Excuse me?... Um, Chris, I'm glad you've got that whole sexual discovery thing going on with Shrem, but I don't bend that way." Aureya tried to joke, but Shrem noticed a distinct glint of panic in her eyes. Christine seemed to have noticed it too, since she ignored the joke and asked in her soft professional tone of voice:

"How long has it been since your last period?"

Aureya looked momentarily stricken, then whispered:

"No... I couldn't be... we'd need genetic scramblers... and Vulcan's aren't... well, 'firing live ammunition', unless it's during... ehm... I couldn't be."

"Well, I'm not an expert, but since you're both half human, there's a distinct possibility... Did you use any contraception?"

Aureya, still looking stunned, shook her head and muttered:

"No... we didn't think we had to... shit, I'm on the wrong side of 25 for this... and I'm still Spock's aide... and... holy fucking crap, I'm pregnant!"

There was shocked silence for a moment, during which Shrem had some rather odd mental images of just how confusing life was going to be for a kid who was one quarter Vulcan and one quarter Orion, and just how odd pointy green ears would look on said kid, until Aureya gave a small sob.

"Crap... sorry, I... shit." She was waving her arms around as if to indicate she was going to pull herself together any minute now, but Christine didn't wait that long and simply pulled her into a hug.

_That's my girl; cold my ass._

"Eya, calm down... we still have to do a test to be sure, it could be something else. And on top of that, I thought you two were going to get married anyway... I know you're a little young, but... Are you worried about Spock's reaction?"

"Of course I'm worried... he's given up so much as far as social standing goes... things are easier now, what with how tiny the remaining Vulcan population is... but... but... this is complicated..." Aureya was now outright crying.

"He's not supposed to be having sex... outside of this Vulcan thing that I can't really talk about... it's bad enough to have a half Orion mate as it is... and me being pregnant is a bit of a give-away... and... and..."

"Deep breaths, Eya... come on, we might as well head for the med lab. There's no point in getting all worked up over something that might just be a hormonal imbalance, OK?"

As it turned out, Aureya was _not_ suffering from a hormonal imbalance, but really _was_ three months pregnant as Bones confirmed.

* * *

Standing outside staff quarters 29Q in Building 18, Shrem was feeling just a tad uncomfortable:

"Why are we here again?"

"I don't know... because I suddenly suck at being an adult and decided I needed backup?" Aureya ventured.

"But I'm going to pretend that I needed Chris' medical expertise and that you just tagged along, so if he asks, that's my side of the story and I'm sticking to it."

"Honey, I thought you couldn't lie to him."

"I can't... hence I'm pretending... to myself." Aureya's upper lip was quivering a little, and she took a deep breath:

"'Don't know what's wrong with me, I'm all shaky and... ahhh..."

"That's completely normal, Eya, your hormones are all over the place and you'll feel more vulnerable and emotional... don't worry, every woman goes through that."

_Christine's professional voice really was rather soothing._

"See, medical expertise... I'm starting to believe myself."

Aureya's accompanying smile was a little strained.

"Right, here 'goes." With another deep breath, she punched the code into the lock and opened the door.

Spock was sitting in a chair, PAD in hand, and looked up at the three of them with a raised eyebrow; Shrem surmised that for him the expression passed as expectant.

_Pfft... expectant._

"I was informed that the practice session in Terran formal dancing would not commence for another 83 minutes, has there been a change in plans?" The inquiry was delivered in Spock's customary tone of what sounded like polite disinterest.

"I... I... well... ehm..." Aureya began.

"You appear distressed... are you feeling ill again?" At this he rose, placed the PAD on the small side table to his right, and approached Aureya with an expression of identifiable concern.

Aureya voiced a small hick-uppy sob, then rushed forward and went onto the tips of her toes to place her small hands on either side of her mate's face, her fingers stoking his temples. He inhaled audibly and became stock still.

"How... how is this possible... my parents attempted to conceive for years... and..." Uncharacteristically, Spock faltered.

Christine, visibly as uncomfortable as Shrem, took a hesitant step forward and said rather timidly:

"Um... well, the fact that you both share human DNA could account for the fact that you were able to conceive naturally... it is still more difficult than if you were both fully human, and that would explain why it took a year without contraception... but Leonard checked everything, and the baby is healthy and exactly where we'd expect it to be as far as development is concerned... so... congratulations?" The last bit sounded like a careful suggestion.

Spock had been looking at Christine merely to acknowledge her presence, but had immediately returned his gaze to Aureya, who was sniffling, clearly attempting not to begin to cry again.

"You are displeased with this development." It was a statement, not a question, the emotional implication of his words indecipherable to Shrem.

"Yes... No... I don't know... I thought you would be concerned... about the social ramifications... about your father... and... I... well... I haven't really thought any further than that." Aureya had lowered herself back onto her feet and was resting her forehead against Spock's chest. He, in an unusual display of affection, was rubbing her shoulders and arms.

"You do not wish to bear me children?" This time it was a question.

"No... of course I... wait... what?"

Eya looked up at Spock with a somewhat baffled expression on her face, then seemed to study him intently, he was still rubbing her shoulders, but his fingers were occasionally straying onto her neck and into the small curls escaping her messy bun at its nape.

"You're not upset." She finally concluded.

"I have learnt my lesson with regards to people I hold dear. I do not concern myself with social expectations any longer, I believed you to be aware of that fact. I understand that this is sooner than you would have expected or preferred, but Lieutenant Uhura seems to be progressing well in her career, and I have no doubt that you will do likewise given the same support. I admit the anticipated difficulties of having a family have occurred to me, considering my parents' history... Under the circumstances, would it be inappropriate for me to feel pleased?"

Aureya, looking first a little surprised, then thoughtful, then tentative, finally broke into the a brilliant smile, and Spock, in the most obvious way Shrem had ever seen, smiled back, then wound his arms around his tiny mate and kissed her. When things started to get heated, Christine announced in an odd echo from that morning:

"Ehm... we'll be going then..." And nodded at the door while grabbing Shrem's hand.

"Cadet Chapel." Spock called them back from the door.

"Medically speaking... would it be safe to...?"

"Perfectly fine... and you can expect an increase in Eya's libido, so be warned... anything that is pleasant and not painful is perfectly healthy for mother and child." Christine was smiling brightly, and seemed entirely unconcerned by the fact that she'd just told them to go ahead and have sex.

_Professionalism was a funny thing._

Shrem took Christine's hand on the way to the turbo lift, they were grinning at each other like idiots, and by the time they exited Building 18 they were giggling like a bunch of 5 year old girls.

* * *

To Shrem's surprise, both Aureya and Spock turned up to their fist communal dance lesson exchange. Both of them a little dishevelled, but present. He hadn't seen Spock with so much as a hair out of place since the Narada Incident; it made the older man strangely endearing.

At his slightly bug-eyed look, Aureya gave him a grin and whispered:

"What? I said I'd help... and I'm pregnant, not sick." Then she winked at him and turned to the group:

"OK people... as it stands, Bones and I are going to teach you the waltz, Jim and Gaila are in charge of the tango, Miriam and Christopher take the foxtrot, and the Latin ones we'll just have to muddle through in a group effort."

"You're actually serious about this... I thought we were just gonna get drunk... well, not you, obviously, but... ehm... never mind." Shrem felt a little stupid for slipping up already. Fortunately, nobody noticed.

"Of course we're serious. Now, how about we all demonstrate the first three dances and then start with the waltz?"

So, since Aureya was usually boss, that's exactly what they did. Bones and Eya danced the waltz, making everyone a little melancholic, since it reminded them of Alexander Lennox. There was a brief conversation consisting entirely of eyebrow wriggles between the two, and to the best of his ability Shrem translated it into:

_So you told him?_

_Yes._

_Everything good?_

_Everything's wonderful._

The conversation ended, predictably, with Bones and Aureya grinning at each other like a bunch of loons.

They had to break up Jim and Gaila, whose tango had slipped into the x-rated zone a little too quickly.

"I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of simulating intercourse in public." Spock stated dryly, but was reassured by Noyota's:

"Nobody but those two is, Spock."

Admiral Pike followed Miriam's command of:

"Get over here, Christopher, and shake that booty." with a small groan, but did a rather admirable job of twirling the petite older woman around the floor.

They spent the following hour practicing the waltz, and Shrem had a hard time thinking of anything more pleasant than holding Chris in his arms and swaying and turning to soft music.

_Well, actually, he could, but that would go right back into the tango minus the 'simulated' element._

Christine seemed to agree, since she kept smiling up at him during the entire time. He spotted Spock and Eya at one point, both gazing at each other intently, and he had to grin again:

"Awww... look at mummy and daddy." He whispered, half joking, to Chris, who smiled a little more brightly when he held her closer.

When they were finished and ready to head out for a drink after all, Spock cleared his throat and announced:

"Aureya and I have somewhat unexpected but fortuitous news."

_Now they'd **have** to go out and get drunk. Well, apart from Eya, of course._

**A/N: *glares at Itsa Riddle* Sheesh woman, can't get anything past you!**

**Well, this one was nicely timed with Half and Half getting over 40.000 hits. I hope it wasn't too fluffy and sugar coated. (Aureya is now the third pregnant woman in my fics... and the first one who isn't black... maybe this is my weird way of getting broody... in fiction only)**


End file.
